FBI: Security is a go
Officials: Super Bowl will be safe
“Nothing has been curtailed” when it comes to protecting the Super Bowl, despite the government shutdown.
Super Bowl LIII could be the first major sporting event in more than two decades held during a government shutdown, though federal officials told USA TODAY that those attending the game or events surrounding it shouldn’t worry any more than the first 52 games that were played with a fully employed government.
“Nothing has been curtailed,” FBI spokesman Kevin Rowson told USA TODAY. “We are fully operational.”
This year’s Super Bowl, scheduled for Feb. 3 between the Rams and Patriots, is a SEAR 1 event, the federal government’s second-highest security classification. The State of the Union address, categorized at the highest level (NSSE), is scheduled for Jan. 29, though House Speaker Nancy Pelosi suggested to President Donald Trump last week that it be postponed because of security concerns surrounding the shutdown.
While not necessarily a terrorism target, a SEAR 1 event is of enough national or international importance to require federal support and equipment, as well as cooperation and coordination between federal, state and local authorities.
“The Department (of Homeland Security) takes the security of special events like the Super Bowl extremely seriously, and we continue executing our protection responsibility and supporting our local public safety partners for this event,” DHS spokesperson Tyler Q. Houlton said in a statement last week. “The current lapse in government
funding will have no effect on our commitment to assuring a safe and secure event.”
More than 1,500 public safety personnel are involved in Super Bowl security, Rowson said, though it’s not clear how many of those are federal agents and officials. (None of the FBI agents are currently being paid.) Or how many will be working the Super Bowl without pay if the shutdown has not been resolved.
The Secret Service, FBI, TSA, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Customs and Border Protection are among the federal agencies charged with working with local law enforcement and private security to secure the Super Bowl and many of the surrounding events.
“The federal agencies involved — HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), FBI, ICE and CPB — are essential and will be working as usual, but many aren’t going to be getting paid,” said John Torres, CEO of the security consulting company Guidepost Solutions and a former HSI agent. “They’ll still do their jobs whether they are paid or not.”
Security consultant Aloke S. Chakravarty told USA TODAY that federal law enforcement officials who have’t gotten paid as the shutdown drags on “are professionals who don’t do their jobs for money, but their families are impacted like anyone else’s would be.”
“You could ... see a drop off in efficiency,” said Chakravarty, a former federal prosecutor who worked the Boston Marathon bombing case and is currently a partner at Snell & Wilmer. “While agents at the FBI, Secret Service and other agencies will be working because (Super Bowl security) was already budgeted, the people who support them, like analysts, could be furloughed. Analysts may not be at their terminals because of the shutdown.”
Rowson and Atlanta Police Department spokesman Carlos Campos said the shutdown will not impact security. Federal, state and local officials have been planning for the Super Bowl for two years and are fully prepared.
“An event like (the) Super Bowl is all about planning, preparation and partnerships,” Rowson said in an email. “We want to assure the public that we have planned for this to ensure that nothing happens. But if something does happen, we are ready and prepared to transition into crisis response and investigation.”
That means most of the federal employees working the Super Bowl will be doing it without pay if the shutdown is ongoing. DHS is one of the nine departments that is unfunded but workers who are considered “essential” are still expected to do their jobs.
The Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, 1996, was the last major sporting event held during a shutdown.
The federal government was closed for 21 days as President Bill Clinton and Congress sparred over the budget. Nebraska won the game to claim the national title.
While four World Series (1977, 1978, 1979 and 1986) overlapped with prior shutdowns, the 1978 World Series (Dodgers vs. Yankees) was the only one that came during a lengthy standoff (18 days).