ICYMI: Mackenzie Shows Up for TSA Workers Harmed by Democrats’ Shutdown
Unlike Democrats, Ryan Mackenzie shows up for Pennsylvanians. This week, Mackenzie brought lunch to TSA workers at the Lehigh Valley International Airport who have been keeping Americans safe for over two weeks without pay.
“Ryan Mackenzie shows up every day to work for the people of the Lehigh Valley. Democrats abandoned Pennsylvanians to appease their radical base. The difference couldn’t be clearer.” – NRCC Spokesman Reilly Richardson
Read more from The Morning Call here or see excerpts below:
Ryan Mackenzie meets with Lehigh Valley airport officials as government shutdown enters week 2
Lindsay Weber
The Morning Call
October 15, 2025
As a federal government shutdown stretches into its second week, freshman Republican Rep. Ryan Mackenzie visited Lehigh Valley International Airport to speak with TSA officials working without pay, and make the GOP’s case that blame for the shutdown lies with Democrats.
Around 1.4 million federal workers are either furloughed or working without pay as of Oct. 1, when the government shut down after Congress failed to come to an agreement about federal funding. That includes Transportation Security Administration employees at the Lehigh Valley airport, to whom Mackenzie and several staffers delivered pizzas from the Pizza Joint on Tuesday afternoon.
Mackenzie, who represents the Lehigh Valley-based 7th District, also spoke with Department of Homeland Security employees Lori Ann Avizof, transportation security manager; Don Weston, deputy federal security director; and Michael Kichline, assistant federal security director, who oversee safety operations at LVIA.
The security officials said the Lehigh Valley airport’s operations have not been affected by the shutdown so far. Airport employees have not yet missed a paycheck due to the timing of their pay period, and security operations like TSA security checks at the airport are continuing as normal.
“What we heard, thankfully, from TSA is that they have not been impacted, yet, and so people have not missed paychecks at this particular location yet, that’s good to hear,” Mackenzie said. “I’m an advocate for reopening the government. I voted for the continuing resolution and we are asking that the Senate Democrats actually vote to reopen the government as quickly as possible.”
Mackenzie placed blame for the shutdown on Democrats, who have refused to support a Republican-backed continuing resolution that would keep the government open and funded through the end of the year.