Updated October 15, 2025 at 5:46 PM MDT
Several airports across the country are refusing to play a video from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem at security checkpoints, saying its political messaging violates their policies or is illegal.
In the video, Noem blames Democrats for the ongoing government shutdown.
Noem says in the video, posted on social media by the White House: "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."
She continues, "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."
Scholars of government law and ethics say this political messaging violates a law called the Hatch Act that restricts executive branch employees from engaging in certain political activities — but Noem is unlikely to face consequences for doing so.
Here's what to know about the video and the history of enforcement — or lack thereof — of the Hatch Act.
Multiple airports say the video violates their policies
Airports in Atlanta, Buffalo, N.Y., Charlotte, Chicago, Las Vegas, New Jersey, Phoenix, Portland, Ore., and Seattle have confirmed to NPR that they're not playing the Noem video. It's intended to play at security checkpoints, where videos featuring government officials giving safety information are often played.
The airports told NPR they are declining the request from the Department of Homeland Security because the messaging violates local policies and state laws.
A spokesperson for Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport said it "strives to maintain a neutral and welcoming environment for all travelers" and that the Noem video did not follow that mission or the airport's policies.
The Chicago Department of Aviation, which operates O'Hare and Midway airports, told NPR that the Noem video violated its advertising policies against endorsing or opposing any political party. "These guidelines help ensure the airports remain welcoming and neutral spaces for all travelers," the CDA said in a statement.
A spokesperson for the Port of Seattle, which oversees the Seattle–Tacoma International Airport, said, "The Port of Seattle will not play the video on its screens at SEA Airport, due to the political nature of the content. We continue to urge bipartisan efforts to end the government shutdown and are working to find ways to support federal employees working without pay at SEA during the shutdown."
Stanley Brand, a professor at Penn State Dickinson Law where he teaches criminal law and government ethics, said many airports receive federal money, which can come with prohibitions on how to use that money — including a ban on using it to influence politics. By refusing to play the video, most airports are likely trying to act self protectively. "They just don't want to threaten their funding," Brand said.
Some airports pointed to federal law as well.
In Oregon, Port of Portland spokesperson Molly Prescott said in an email: "We did not consent to playing the video in its current form, as we believe the Hatch Act clearly prohibits use of public assets for political purposes and messaging."
Why does this violate federal law?
Brand agrees that the video violates the Hatch Act, a 1939 law barring federal employees in the executive branch (except the president and vice president) from participating in most types of political activity on government time or using the government's resources.
It prevents officials from using their authority "to influence or effect the result of an election, or using resources or media that advocates for or against a partisan political party. And that's essentially what's on the Noem message in the airports," said Brand.
"This seems like a blatant use of political messaging in a forum and by somebody who probably shouldn't be doing it," he said of the video.
Under the Hatch Act, it's also illegal to use government resources to benefit or harm any political party.
Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, says that's what is happening with the Noem video, which Clark said "is directed at imposing a political cost on Democrats for the government shutdown."
Since the government shut down, the Trump administration has placed political messaging on the websites of federal agencies and in some automated email responses blaming Democrats for the impasse.
Other ethics experts and federal employees have raised alarms over this kind of communication, saying it also violates the Hatch Act.
Taken together with the TSA video, Clark said the Trump administration is "going on a full court press campaign to violate the Hatch Act, intentionally and openly, to defy the statute and regulations, to demonstrate that the Trump administration is above the law."
In an emailed statement, DHS didn't address NPR's question about whether the video violates the Hatch Act. But Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin echoed Noem's statement from the video, adding: "It's unfortunate our workforce has been put in this position due to political gamesmanship. Our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government."
What are the consequences of violating the Hatch Act?
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel, an independent federal agency, is responsible for enforcing the Hatch Act and it looks into complaints filed against government officials.
But that office is closed right now because of the government shutdown.
There have been a number of cases where people from multiple administrations — Democratic and Republican — have been sanctioned for violating the Hatch Act, Brand said.
During the Biden administration, then-White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was found to have violated the Hatch Act after repeatedly using the term "MAGA Republicans" days before the 2022 election. She had made those comments during a White House briefing.
The OSC decided against disciplinary action and issued Jean-Pierre a warning letter.
And during the first Trump administration, former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway was cited for Hatch Act violations and the OSC recommended she "be removed from federal service." She remained in the job.
Some penalties have been imposed on less prominent government employees.
In 2012, a Social Security Administration tech specialist was suspended for six months after he recruited precinct captains and handed out yard signs for a gubernatorial candidate from his office. He also hosted a fundraiser for another candidate.
A General Services Administration employee was suspended without pay for campaigning for Barack Obama's presidential run in 2007. According to a report from Politico, she invited 23 people to an Obama campaign fundraiser while on the job and used her government email to send campaign-related emails.
Discipline for violators of the Hatch Act is "paltry," Brand said.
"There are no criminal penalties. The sanctions are mild in comparison to most other regulatory statutes affecting government service," he explained. "You can be reprimanded, you could be removed, you could suffer a reduction of pay. You could be given a civil penalty of $1,000."
And even still, he said, those available punishments "are not very strenuously enforced."
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