On Monday, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano exaggerated the impact the sequester has had on the country’s airports, saying lines at the country’s busiest airports would “cascade” in the next weeks due to the budget cuts imposed on her agency because of the sequester.
“Look people, I don’t mean to scare, I mean to inform, but if you are traveling, get to the airport earlier than you otherwise would,” Napolitano said. “We are already seeing the effects at some of the ports of entry, the big airports, for example.”
Napolitano also “said lines have already increased 150% to 200% at airports, including Los Angeles International Airport and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.”
But those claims were debunked. An LAX spokesman told the Los Angeles Times that delays have been “minimal” and the average time passengers have spent in line last weekend had been less than 30 minutes.
Just like they did before the sequester, Obama administration officials are trying to gin up fear and exaggerate the effects of the sequester to try to win political points.