City officials say they cannot stop the Transportation Security Administration from airing a controversial video at El Paso International Airport.
The video features Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blaming Democrats for the government shutdown. While several major airports around the country have refused to air the video, it is being played at the El Paso airport by the TSA.
“The El Paso International Airport is not showing the video. The Transportation Security Administration is showing the video at the security screening checkpoint they control,” said city spokesperson Laura Cruz-Acosta in an emailed response to El Paso Matters.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to El Paso Matters request for comment for this story.
Some city representatives said they are concerned that the video being aired is a violation of the Hatch Act – a federal law that prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activity while acting in their official roles. TSA has brought a video monitor into the passenger screening area at the airport to show the Noem video.
“Our major concern is that this video includes partisan language on the current government shutdown,” city Reps. Josh Acevedo, Alejandra Chávez and Deanna Maldonado-Rocha said in a joint statement issued Wednesday.
“I am looking forward to a response from TSA and also hoping for a quick resolution to the federal government shutdown,” Maldonado-Rocha told El Paso Matters.
Acevedo and Chávez did not immediately respond to El Paso Matters’ request for further comment.
The U.S. federal government was shut down Oct. 1 because Congress failed to pass funding legislation. Republicans and Democrats have disagreed on funding priorities, including potential cuts to health insurance subsidies.
The shutdown has meant thousands of federal workers have been furloughed without pay and there have been threats by President Donald Trump of permanent layoffs. Essential workers like TSA screeners are required to work without pay during the shutdown, though they have been repaid after past government shutdowns have ended.
Many non-essential government services have also been suspended such as national parks, museums, some health services and some regulatory agencies. Other critical programs such as Medicare, Social Security and active military operations continue.
“A government shutdown is a difficult financial burden for people at all levels. We believe it is paramount to keep the messaging apolitical, especially at our airport where locals and travelers visit every day. This distraction is keeping people from getting back to work and, more importantly, getting paid and providing for their families,” Acevedo, Maldonado-Rocha and Canales said in the statement.
Republicans and Democrats have blamed each other for the shutdown.
“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,” Noem said, in part, in the video being aired.
Many Democrats have held firm that cutting health care is not an option.
“I won’t vote to defund health care for veterans so that Republicans can give tax breaks to billionaires. It’s that simple,” U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said on an Instagram post about the Republican budget bill.
Cruz-Acosta said the city owns the airport property, and provided the checkpoint area that is operated by TSA as required by the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. The act stipulates airports are required to provide TSA the space necessary for a federal security director to perform the screening function at every airport in the U.S. that has commercial traffic.
“This is not city property with lease parameters that allow for guidelines on how the space is operated,” City Manager Dionne Mack said in an emailed response to El Paso Matters.
The TSA is not using city-owned monitors to air the video.
“TSA oversees the procedures and operations in these areas as part of the federally approved Airport Security Program. While the city owns the airport property, the checkpoint itself operates under TSA’s authority and direction,” Cruz-Acosta said.
The TSA did not respond to El Paso Matters’ question about whether airing the video violates the Hatch Act.
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