The Trump administration has begun showing a government-produced video at airports across the United States that blames Democrats for the ongoing federal shutdown. The message, which features Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, is playing in Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints as part of what officials describe as a “public service video.”
The nine-day-old shutdown began after Congress failed to pass new spending legislation. Republican lawmakers proposed a stopgap funding measure, but Democrats declined to support it because it excluded subsidies for low-income health insurance. As a result, large portions of the federal government remain closed.
Air travel has been hit especially hard. About 13,000 air traffic controllers and roughly 50,000 TSA officers have been required to continue working without pay. They are expected to receive partial compensation next week for hours worked before the shutdown began. So far this week, more than 20,000 flight delays have been recorded nationwide, including 4,600 on Thursday alone. Many of those delays have been tied to staffing shortages at the Federal Aviation Administration.
In the new airport video, Secretary Noem tells travelers that the shutdown is affecting operations and that “most of our TSA employees are working without pay.” The video concludes with an appeal that Democrats “recognize the importance of opening the government.” The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the video is running at airports nationwide, and Fox News was the first outlet to report on its release.
The use of TSA screens to deliver a politically charged message is a departure from typical airport communications, which usually focus on security instructions or travel information. Homeland Security officials defended the video’s content, describing it as an informational effort aimed at keeping the public informed during the shutdown.
Democratic leaders, meanwhile, have accused Republicans of using government resources for partisan purposes. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said that each day the shutdown continues “the worse it gets for Americans,” arguing that the administration should work toward reopening the government rather than assigning blame.
The TSA maintains that airport wait times have not significantly worsened. On Wednesday, the agency screened 2.4 million passengers with an average wait of just over six minutes. Still, concerns are growing that conditions could deteriorate if the standoff drags on.
A similar situation occurred during the 35-day shutdown in 2019, when increased absences among unpaid TSA officers and air traffic controllers caused major slowdowns at several airports, including New York’s. Officials then were forced to scale back air traffic until funding was restored — a scenario both sides now hope to avoid.
