Originally Posted by cbn42

I have been told the opposite, smaller airports are being more strict. Larger airports are getting a ton of people without REAL ID and don't have enough officers to handle them, so the extra screening is minimal.

Essentially, the policy right now is "soft" enforcement. This means that if you don't have REAL ID, you are given a written warning (i.e., they hand you a pamphlet) and then you "may" get additional screening such as a hand swab, depending on the availability of officers.