Airports and major media outlets have openly opposed the Trump administration's demands.
Airports in many cities are refusing to show a video on their big screens in which the head of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) blames Democrats for the shutdown, writes The Washington Post. Meanwhile the publication The Guardian Along with a number of other leading media outlets, it refused to sign new Pentagon accreditation rules that restrict access to information.
Travelers in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle, and other cities won't see a video blaming congressional Democrats for government shutdown-related flight delays.
Airports in more than six U.S. regions have refused to show a video in which Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blames congressional Democrats for the shutdown and the resulting flight delays.
On the subject: The shutdown has led to delays and cancellations of hundreds of flights across the country.
The video violates the Hatch Act.
Airport operators serving Buffalo, Charlotte, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, said showing the video could violate internal rules prohibiting political messages or run afoul of state and federal laws prohibiting the use of public resources for political purposes.
"We believe the Hatch Act explicitly prohibits the use of government assets for political purposes," said Molly Prescott, who manages Portland International Airport. Passed in 1939, the Hatch Act prohibits federal employees from engaging in politics while on the job and is intended to ensure nonpartisan administration of federal programs.
Westchester County, located north of New York City, also refused to air the video. County Executive Ken Jenkins called it "unnecessarily alarmist" and "inconsistent with the values we expect from our nation's top public officials."
While airports typically display video greetings from the head of the Department of Homeland Security at Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints, such messages typically focus on security issues or procedures worth noting, said Henry Harteveld, an aviation industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group.
For example, these screens previously displayed reminders that Real ID—the driver's license and identification standard that went into effect in May—is required to board domestic flights. (TSA checkpoints are security screening areas that passengers pass through at airports in the United States before boarding a plane. They are operated by the TSA, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. – Note.)
As some aviation industry experts noted, Noem's latest address was unusual because of its overtly partisan tone,
"TSA's top priority is making your airport experience as pleasant and efficient as possible," Noem said in a video circulated in the media and on social media. "However, Democrats in Congress refuse to defund the federal government, causing many of our operations to suffer."
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The video could put airports and local TSA officials in an awkward position. For example, as former American Airlines CEO Rob Britton noted, publicly owned airports may be wary of violating federal or state laws. On the other hand, some airports may feel compelled to play along to avoid angering the federal government, as they receive significant funding from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
In some cases, video display at a given airport will depend on who owns the screens, said an industry representative, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic. He added that at some airports, the TV systems may be owned by the TSA itself.
Many employees of the Transportation Security Administration and other agencies continue to work but are not receiving pay due to the shutdown, which is now in its second week. Major US airports have faced disruptions due to staffing shortages: according to flight tracking website FlightAware, on October 12, nearly 8000 flights within, to, and from the US were delayed, and 271 were canceled. As of midday on October 13, more than 3900 flights had been delayed and 475 canceled.
The Pentagon is restricting access to information.
While the Department of Homeland Security requires political ads to be shown at airports, the Pentagon says media outlets are required to refuse unauthorized material and is restricting access to certain areas.
Several leading media outlets with access to Pentagon briefings have formally stated their disagreement with the Department of Defense's new policy, which requires them to sign pledges not to receive unauthorized materials or to enter certain areas without an official escort.
The policy, unveiled last month by Defense Minister Piet Hegseth, was widely criticized by the media. Journalists were asked to sign the document by 17:00 PM on Tuesday, October 14, or else they would have to surrender their press cards within 24 hours.
This move follows a shakeup in February, when media outlets with long-term accreditation were forced to vacate their desks as part of the so-called annual media rotation program. A similar plan was proposed at the White House, where some seats in the briefing room were given over to podcasters and other representatives of non-traditional media.
On October 13, the Washington Post joined the New York Times, CNN, The Atlantic, The Guardian, Reuters, Associated Press, NPR, HuffPost, and the trade publication Breaking Defense in emphasizing that it would not sign the agreement.
Post Editor-in-Chief Matt Murray said the policy violated constitutional guarantees of press freedom.
"The proposed restrictions, by imposing unnecessary restrictions on the collection and publication of information, undermine First Amendment protections," Murray wrote in X.
The Atlantic, which clashed with Pentagon and White House officials this year after editor Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally added to a Signal group chat, said it fundamentally disagreed with the latest harassment.
"The new policy limits journalists' ability to cover the U.S. military, which is funded by nearly $1 trillion in tax revenue annually," the New York Times said in a statement. "The public has a right to know how the government and the military operate," Times Washington bureau chief Richard Stevenson wrote.
Hegseth responded to the statements from the Atlantic, the Post, and the Times on social media with a waving hand emoji. Later, the defense chief, a former Fox host, posted a list on X titled "Press Accreditation for Dummies," noting: "The press can no longer move freely. The press must wear a visible badge. Accredited journalists are prohibited from committing criminal acts." He also posted a cartoon depicting the Atlantic as a crying baby.
On Monday, October 13, Reuters also stated that "our journalists will not sign the revised accreditation rules" and called the Pentagon's new restrictions "an affront to the protections of press freedom guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, as well as to the free flow of information and journalism serving the public interest without fear or favor."
NPR Editor-in-Chief Thomas Evans and HuffPost Editor-in-Chief Whitney Snyder, as well as representatives of some conservative media outlets, also refused to sign the Pentagon document.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell told the Washington Post that the media "has decided to shift focus." He maintains that the policy doesn't require journalists to agree, only to acknowledge their knowledge of it.
According to him, this request "has caused real hysteria among journalists. They're complaining online that they're being harassed," but "we're standing our ground because this is the best solution for our military personnel and the country's national security."
The Pentagon Press Association (PPA), which represents the press corps covering the Defense Department, said last week that the revised policy, which prohibits journalists from not only receiving but also requesting unauthorized information, is "designed to suppress press freedom and could result in criminal liability for carrying out professional duties."
The PPA noted that the new policy "intimidates everyone within the Department of Defense by prohibiting any unauthorized contact with the press and even insinuating that such contact is a crime, which, of course, it is not."
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The new rules were adopted by the far-right One America News, whose White House correspondent frequently receives invitations to answer questions from the president. One of the channel's hosts, former Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, stated that "the pro-government network is happy to comply with these reasonable conditions."
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