Several airports around the country have refused to air a video from the Department of Homeland Security. While the airline hubs are heavily regulated by multiple federal agencies, an expert that Straight Arrow News spoke to breaks down just how they are able to refuse the government’s demand.
The video features Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown, a common theme of the Trump administration in the last few weeks.
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Airports refusing
Among the airports refusing to show the video on their monitors are JFK and LaGuardia in New York, as well as airports in Las Vegas, Seattle, Atlanta, Phoenix and Portland.
“We did not consent to playing the video in its current form, as we believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging,” Molly Prescott, aviation communications and media relations manager at the Port of Portland, told Straight Arrow News. “Additionally, Oregon law states no public employee can promote or oppose any political committee, party, or affiliation. We believe consenting to playing this video on Port assets would violate Oregon law.”
The Port of Portland owns and operates the Portland airport, which is a similar arrangement to many of the airports around the country. While the city of New York owns JFK and LaGuardia, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey operates the airports.
Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in Atlanta is owned and operated by the city.
Almost all of the airports refusing to play the video said it was due to the politically charged messaging in that video.
The only airports owned by the federal government are Reagan and Dulles, both of which are in and around Washington, D.C., but they are operated by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
“It’s a cooperation between a federal agency and a municipality or a city where they basically provide air service,” Sheldon Jacobson, a professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who’s written extensively about Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operations, told Straight Arrow News. “The airports have to, and the airlines have to, abide by the TSA requirements when it comes to security screening. On the other hand, they are independent of them in terms of operating their airports.”
In other words, the airports control what’s on those screens you see, and they can’t be forced to run Noem’s video.
“It’s a voluntary choice,” Jacobson said. “Now, of course, you can bully people to do things. You can threaten them, you can insinuate certain consequences if you don’t, and an airport may decide to run it or not run. It’s really up to the airport if it’s their monitor.”
Other than pressure from the administration, Jacobson said there’s really no good reason to run the video.
“I don’t see the benefit to air travelers and to airport security by running a video of that sort,” Jacobson said. “It doesn’t help security. So once again, it’s one of those head scratchers –– why are we creating an antagonistic environment into where it doesn’t have to be one.”
TSA involvement
As you’ve probably seen at certain airports, the TSA has its own monitors as well that they control at security checkpoints.
A representative for the Detroit Metro Airport told CNBC that Noem’s video is only being shown in TSA-leased areas.
Critics have pointed out that running a politically driven video on a federal agency monitor may violate certain laws, including the Hatch Act.
“Federal agencies are, in theory, politically agnostic,” Jacobson said. “They do their job for a purpose and a mission, as we just talked about. For the TSA, I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t answer that question.”
Spokespeople for airports in Charlotte, Austin and others said the TSA doesn’t have their own monitors at those airports, so the video isn’t being shown.
Noem’s video
When asked to comment about airports refusing to show the video, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sent a statement to Straight Arrow News that echoed similar talking points stated in the video.
“It is TSA’s top priority to ensure that travelers have the most safe, pleasant and efficient airport experience possible,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in the statement. “However, Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government, and because of this, most of our TSA employees are working without pay.”
Roughly 61,000 of the agency’s 64,130 employees are required to work during the shutdown.
