Eastern Iowa Airport won’t air DHS video blaming Democrats for government shutdown

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Eastern Iowa Airport has joined a growing list of U.S. airports refusing to air a video in which U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blames Democrats for the federal government shutdown.

The video, which last week was distributed to airports nationwide, features Noem lamenting the effects of the ongoing government shutdown on Transportation Security Administration (TSA) operations and blaming Democrats for the disruption.

In a statement to The Gazette, however, Eastern Iowa Airport communications director Pam Hinman wrote that the Cedar Rapids airport received the video but has not been showing it to visitors.

“As a public entity, CID does not display advertising or videos that can be considered political or partisan,” Hinman wrote. “The monitors are owned by CID and are used for advertising, flight information, local messaging and can be used for required FAA/TSA messaging.”

The statement follows similar moves at airports across the country, where officials are broadly citing a desire to remain out of partisan politics.

According to The Associated Press, airports in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas have also refused to display the video, and the same is true at facilities in Charlotte, N.C.; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Billings, Mont.

The Des Moines Register on Tuesday reported that the video has also failed to launch at the Des Moines International Airport.

In the video, Noem says that TSA’s “top priority” is to keep travelers safe while ensuring pleasant and efficient travel. TSA notably falls under the purview of the Department of Homeland Security, which Noem oversees.

“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,” she continues.

Roughly 61,000 of TSA’s 64,130 employees are required to continue working during the government shutdown that has halted routine operations and left airports scrambling with flight disruptions.

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The shutdown itself began Oct. 1 after Congressional leaders and the White House failed to reach an agreement on federal spending, and each party has since blamed the other for the subsequent disruption of services.

Federal Democrats have expressed an unwillingness to sign a funding bill without extending federal health care subsidies and reversing Medicaid spending cuts enacted earlier this year while Republicans maintain that issue must be addressed separately from the funding bill.

The Gazette’s Tom Barton and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Comments can be directed to grace.nieland@thegazette.com