Dem
47
GOP
53
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem is always trying to play to an audience of one—her boss. In her latest play, she made a video for TSA to show at airport checkpoints. In effect, she blames the long lines on the Democrats for not caving and reopening the government. The video is likely a violation of the Hatch Act, which states that federal employees, except the president and vice president, may not campaign or engage in partisan activities on the taxpayer's dime. By specifically blaming the Democrats and not simply stating that the shutdown was caused by political differences between the parties, she has probably crossed the line into felony territory. Here is the ad:
Quite a few airports, including those in Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York, Phoenix, Portland (OR) and Seattle, among others, with the list growing daily, have refused to play the video. Many of them have put out statements similar this one from Portland's airport: "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."
Statement length does not correlate with airport size. Westchester County owns and operates a small airport 3 miles north of White Plains, NY, but is technically in Harrison, Purchase, and North Castle (which is why its IATA code is HPN). (V) flew out of it many times years ago when it was just a dirt strip and a Quonset hut. Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins issued a press release starting:
Westchester County has reviewed the request from the Department of Homeland Security to replace the REAL ID video with a Public Service Announcement (PSA) that was released by United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and our message is clear: it is inappropriate, unacceptable, and inconsistent with the values we expect from our nation's top public officials. The PSA politicizes the impacts of a federal government shutdown on TSA Operations, and the County finds the tone to be unnecessarily alarmist—particularly as it relates to operations at Westchester County Airport. This video will not be displayed at Westchester County Airport.
With most major airports refusing to show the ad, has Noem achieved her goal? Well, if the goal is getting herself a lot of publicity and getting Trump to see her as a fellow traveler, then probably it is a success. Remember, in TrumpWorld you can win by losing. (V)