MSP among airports asked to show Noem shutdown video
Fort Lauderdale Fla AP Certain airports around the country are refusing to play a video with a message from Homeland Prevention Secretary Kristi Noem in which she blames Democrats for the federal leadership shutdown and its impacts on TSA operations because of its political content Airports in Las Vegas Charlotte Atlanta Phoenix Seattle and more say the video goes against their airport framework or regulations which prohibit political messaging in their facilities Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport has received a request to allow TSA to air the video but the Metropolitan Airports Commission is evaluating this request under applicable legal requirements an airport spokesperson noted in an email Various governing body agencies in emails to workers and on websites have adopted language that blames Democrats for the shutdown with certain experts arguing it could be in violation of the Hatch Act which restricts certain political programs by federal employees The shutdown has halted routine operations and left airports scrambling with flight disruptions Democrats say any deal to reopen the regime has to address their soundness care demands and Republicans say they won t negotiate until they agree to fund the ruling body Insurance premiums would double if Congress fails to renew the subsidy payments that expire Dec In the video Noem says that TSA s top priority is to help make journey pleasant and efficient while keeping passengers safe However Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal leadership and because of this a great number of of our operations are impacted and greater part of our TSA employees are working without pay she continues The Transportation Shield Administration falls under the Department of Homeland Guard Roughly of the agency s employees are required to continue working during the shutdown The Department stated Friday that the video is being rolled out to airports across the country A DHS spokeswoman responded to a request for comment restating particular of the message from Noem s video It s unfortunate our workforce has been put in this position due to political gamesmanship Our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the governing body spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin reported The Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas explained it had to remain mindful of the Hatch Act s restrictions Per airport regulations the terminals and surrounding areas are not designated residents forums and the airport s intent is to avoid the use of the facility for political or religious advocacy the comment declared Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins explained the county north of New York City won t play the video at its local airport In a message he called the video inappropriate unacceptable and inconsistent with the values we expect from our nation s top citizens executives and noted its tone is unnecessarily alarmist as it relates to operations at Westchester County Airport At a time when we should be focused on ensuring stability collaboration and preparedness this type of messaging only distracts from the real issues and undermines general trust he reported Even in red states airports weren t showing the video for various reasons Salt Lake City International Airport wasn t playing the video because state law prohibits using city-owned property for political purposes commented airport spokesperson Nancy Volmer The airport in Billings Montana politely declined even though it has screens that could show the video with audio assistant aviation director Paul Khera disclosed Tuesday We don t want to get in the middle of partisan politics Khera disclosed We like to stay middle of the road we didn t want to play that video MinnPost staff and Associated Press writers Rio Yamat in Las Vegas and Mead Gruver in Fort Collins Colo contributed to this review The post MSP among airports inquired to show Noem shutdown video appeared first on MinnPost
