As much as I despise TSA as an agency, and as much utter contempt as I have for the federal government in general, I do have some sympathy for the thousands of government workers caught in the middle of this childish staring contest being conducted by 535 of the worst human beings in our country - our beloved leaders.

I see a lot of comments online about how people living paycheck to paycheck are doing something wrong, financially irresponsible, etc. Well, sure, if you make $150k and live paycheck to paycheck, you're doing something wrong. But for a $40k TSO supporting a family, getting far enough ahead to absorb the loss of half a month's pay is, for all practical intents and purposes, impossible. And sure, go ahead and post an example, a dozen examples, even 50 examples, of people who are able to get ahead on $40k a year, but those are exceptions (and they're still doing something wrong, because if you have the drive, discipline, and sense to really get ahead on only $40k, you're in the wrong job and should be looking for something better).

I seriously doubt that rank-and-file TSOs have any sort of clearance. They most likely go through a background check similar to the one I had to undergo when working on a military base s few years ago, but actual clearance? Highly unlikely, since handling classified information is not part of their job descriptions. Some of the upper management types probably have clearance, and maybe some of the middle management types, but I doubt that anyone in the screening force below the level of AFSD has a clearance at most airports.

Living paycheck to paycheck doesn't qualify as having "money problems". I'd classify it more as "scraping by", but it doesn't become "money problems" until you've got obligations you can't meet - such as when your employer simply stops paying you what they owe you.

And even then, missing one paycheck doesn't necessarily mean "financial calamity". It means belt-tightening, prioritization, missed payments, and hardship, but it doesn't necessarily reach the level of calamity until you miss an entire month's pay rather than half a month's pay.

Sure, but we also know that TSA has never caught one of them, and in fact misses up to 95% of the weapons they're supposed to screen for, including in one instance five pounds of undisguised, unhidden C4 high explosive, still in its plainly-labeled government-issue wrapper.