MSP Airport not airing video of Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for government shutdown, intended for TSA lines
The Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is among a growing number of airports across the country that are not airing a video of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.
The Metropolitan Airports Commission, which manages the airport, says it was asked to play the video on display monitors within security screening areas.
"TSA is not airing the video while the MAC is evaluating this request under applicable legal requirements," the commission said in a statement.
In the video, Noem says that "Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government and because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay."
She goes on to say that her agency will do what they can to avoid delays.
"Our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government," she says.
Airports that have refused to play the video — like Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports — say they can't air content that "endorses or opposes any named political party."
A spokesperson for the Port of Portland, which operates the city's airport told CBS News that they "did not consent to playing the video in its current form, as we believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits the use of public assets for political purposes and messaging."
The Hatch Act is a federal law passed in 1939 that limits certain political activities of federal employees, to ensure that programming is administered in a nonpartisan fashion, and to protect federal employees from political coercion in the workplace.
The government shutdown entered its 14th day on Tuesday. The Senate will vote for an eighth time, but remain in a stalemate as Democrats demand the extension of health insurance tax credits as a condition for their support.
According to the Metropolitan Airports Commission, impacts of the shutdown at MSP have been "minimal."