Sponsors (190)
Official title: To enhance the security operations of the Transportation Security Administration and stability of the transportation security workforce by applying the personnel system under title 5, United States Code, to employees of the Transportation Security Administration, and for other purposes.
Introduced March 11, 2025 by Bennie Thompson · Last progress March 11, 2025
The bill extends Title 5 protections, benefits parity, collective bargaining rights, and stronger workforce oversight for TSA and related employees—improving job security, pay preservation, and transparency—at the cost of higher federal personnel spending, reduced short‑term managerial flexibility, and substantial administrative and reporting burdens during implementation.
TSA screening staff and other TSA employees will gain Title 5 civil‑service protections, appeal rights, standardized OPM classification and payroll processing, and greater job security.
Converted TSA employees (including Federal Air Marshals and screening agents) will retain current pay, special pay (e.g., availability pay), accrued leave, and prior premium‑pay credit toward retirement, protecting compensation and retirement accruals during conversion.
Congress, agencies, and the traveling public receive expanded, regular reporting (assaults/threats, civil/criminal referrals, airport-level retention, harassment reviews), enabling better oversight, targeted interventions, and data-driven workforce and safety fixes.
Converting TSA employees to Title 5 and guaranteeing pay/benefit parity is likely to increase federal personnel costs, raising budgetary pressures for taxpayers and potentially requiring additional appropriations.
Freezing or locking in certain TSA personnel authorities, narrowing statutory definitions, or centralizing bargaining could reduce TSA managers' agility to implement operational workforce reforms and, if harmonization relaxes vetting, could raise national‑security or screening risks.
The conversion and implementation process (statutory amendments, OPM/DHS rules, payroll/classification updates, multiple reports and GAO reviews) creates substantial administrative complexity and staff workload that can cause transition issues and divert resources from operations.
Based on analysis of 13 sections of legislative text.
Converts covered TSA employees to Title 5 civil service, preserves pay/benefits, requires bargaining rules, reports, and GAO oversight.
Directs the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) to convert most screening personnel and Federal Air Marshals from TSA-specific personnel systems into the Title 5 federal civil service by December 31, 2025, while preserving pay, benefits, and certain existing premiums. It requires immediate and ongoing reporting to Congress on workplace assaults, morale, recruitment and retention, and directs consultations with employee representatives, protections for pay and retirement, GAO reviews of implementation and workplace safety, and rules for collective bargaining under chapter 71 of Title 5.