Long Island MacArthur, NYC airports not playing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's video blaming Democrats for shutdown

Long Island MacArthur, Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty airports are not playing a video the Transportation Security Administration requested all airports to display of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats in Washington for the government shutdown. Some airports and legal experts said Tuesday the video could violate long-standing law barring political activity using government resources.

In the public service announcement-style video intended to play on screens near security lines, Noem says, "It is TSA’s top priority to make sure that you have the most pleasant and efficient airport experience as possible while we keep you safe. However, 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."

Explaining why MacArthur Airport is not playing the video, airport commissioner Rob Schneider said in a statement: "As always, we support the TSA and their mission; however, due to the sensitive political nature surrounding the video, the airport is unable to play it."

The Port Authority, which operates Kennedy, LaGuardia and Newark Liberty, said in a statement, "The Port Authority’s longstanding policies prevent airing of politically partisan messages at our facilities, so airports are not airing the video on airport-controlled screens."

Other airports across the country, including in Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Phoenix, Seattle, Buffalo and Westchester County have also refused to play the video, The Associated Press reported.

Noem's video comes as various federal government agencies have used their official websites and furloughed employees' automatic out-of-office emails to blame Democrats for the shut down.

James Sample, a law professor at Hofstra University, said such activity violates the 1939 Hatch Act, prohibiting federal employees from engaging in political activity while working in an official capacity.

"The classic example of the Hatch Act is that if you are working, as say, a staffer in the White House during a political campaign, and you want to call a donor to the political campaign, you literally need to leave the building, cross the street and call on your own personal phone in order to do that," Sample said.

He said Noem's officially produced video, where she stands in front of the Department of Homeland Security seal, violates the Hatch Act because it was expressly political, blaming the Democrats rather than both parties for refusing to accommodate the other.

The TSA did not respond to a request for comment.

It is unclear which airports are currently airing the video.

A spokesman for Albany International Airport said in a statement that TSA staff at that airport had displayed Noem's video message on monitors there over the weekend, but they did so without prior notice to the Albany County Airport Authority, which owns the airport. The authority later took the video down because it "raises questions" about the Hatch Act, the spokesman said. 

Tens of thousands of air traffic controllers and TSA officials are currently working without pay under the shut down, Newsday has previously reported.