One of my most frequent themes is that the Left has a broad spectrum strategy that is also focused on a variety of microscopic details. Conservatives don’t.

That’s why there are a million stories like this flying by the radar of conservatives. 

The Biden administration said Thursday it is taking what it called a “first step” in its efforts to align the Transportation Security Administration’s pay and personnel system with the rest of the federal workforce, a fight that Democrats and unions have pursued legislatively for years.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directed TSA to expand collective bargaining rights, negotiate a new contract with its union and develop a plan to pay the agency’s airport screeners General Schedule wages.

What this means, beyond sizable pay hikes, is that the TSA’s employees will become more like federal workers who essentially can’t be fired no matter what they do. We’re not there yet, but that’s the end goal.

Finally, Mayorkas urged TSA to review whether its current policies align with procedures applied at the Merit Systems Protection Board. Transportation security officers (TSOs) today don’t have the right to appeal disciplinary actions at the MSPB.

“Until such a time that the screening workforce is afforded statutory MSPB appeal rights, the TSA system should afford similar protections to its employees,” Mayorkas said Thursday in his directive to David Pekoske, TSA administrator and acting DHS deputy secretary, and Darby LaJoye, the senior official performing the duties of the TSA administrator.

The Biden 2023 budget has the massive pay hike rolled in.

Modernizes Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Pay and Workforce Policies.  The Budget provides a total of $7.1 billion for TSA pay and benefits, an increase of $1.6 billion from the 2021 enacted level, to compensate TSA employees at rates comparable to their peers in the Federal workforce.  By establishing salary parity with other Federal employees, the Budget addresses retention issues faced by the Transportation Security Officer workforce, improving service delivery.  The Budget also supports expanding TSA workforce access to labor benefits such as collective bargaining and merit systems protection.  These enhancements support the President’s commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Federal workforce.

Going from $5.5 billion to $7.1 billion is a heck of a pay hike.