II 

Calendar No. 597 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3896 

[Report No. 116–302] 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require the Director of the Office 

of Personnel Management to establish and maintain a public directory 

of the individuals occupying Government policy and supporting positions, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 4, 2020 

Mr. CARPER (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

NOVEMBER 30, 2020 

Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with amendments 

[Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require the Director 

of the Office of Personnel Management to establish and 

maintain a public directory of the individuals occupying 

Government policy and supporting positions, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSES. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Periodically Listing Updates to Management Act of 

4 2020’’ or the ‘‘PLUM Act of 2020’’. 

5 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 

6 (1) modernize the practice of publishing the 

7 ‘‘Plum Book,’’ which has occurred nearly every 4 

8 years since 1952, and contains data on more than 

9 9,000 Federal civil service leadership and support 

10 positions in the legislative and executive branches of 

11 the Government that may be subject to noncompeti12 tive appointment; 

13 (2) enhance transparency by reporting who is 

14 serving in the Government and making policy deci15 sions; and 

16 (3) improve the frequency, accuracy, and acces17 sibility of data on the individuals filling Government 

18 policy and supporting positions. 

19 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC WEBSITE ON GOVERN20 MENT POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITIONS. 

21 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 33 

23 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

24 at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 3330f. Government policy and supporting position 

2 data 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ means— 

5 ‘‘(A) any Executive agency, including the 

6 United States Postal Service and the Postal 

7 Regulatory Commission; 

8 ‘‘(B) the Architect of the Capitol, the Gov9 ernment Accountability Office, the Government 

10 Publishing Office, and the Library of Congress; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(C) the Executive Office of the President 

13 and any component within that Office (includ14 ing any successor component), including— 

15 ‘‘(i) the Council of Economic Advi16 sors; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the Council on Environmental 

18 Quality; 

19 ‘‘(iii) the National Security Council; 

20 ‘‘(iv) the Office of the Vice President; 

21 ‘‘(v) the Office of Policy Development; 

22 ‘‘(vi) the Office of Administration; 

23 ‘‘(vii) the Office of Management and 

24 Budget; 

25 ‘‘(viii) the Office of the United States 

26 Trade Representative; 


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1 ‘‘(ix) the Office of Science and Tech2 nology Policy; 

3 ‘‘(x) the Office of National Drug Con4 trol Policy; and 

5 ‘‘(xi) the White House Office. 

6 ‘‘(2) APPOINTEE.—The term ‘appointee’— 

7 ‘‘(A) means an individual serving in a pol8 icy and supporting position; and 

9 ‘‘(B) includes an individual serving in a 

10 policy and supporting position temporarily in an 

11 acting capacity in accordance with— 

12 ‘‘(i) sections 3345 through 3349d 

13 (commonly referred to as the ‘Federal Va14 cancies Reform Act of 1998’); 

15 ‘‘(ii) any other statutory provision de16 scribed in section 3347(a)(1); or 

17 ‘‘(iii) a Presidential appointment de18 scribed in section 3347(a)(2). 

19 ‘‘(3) COVERED WEBSITE.—The term ‘covered 

20 website’ means the website established and main21 tained by the Director under subsection (b). 

22 ‘‘(4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

23 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

24 ‘‘(5) POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITION.—The 

25 term ‘policy and supporting position’ means— 


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1 ‘‘(A) a position that requires appointment 

2 by the President, by and with the advice and 

3 consent of the Senate; 

4 ‘‘(B) a position that requires or permits 

5 appointment by the President or Vice Presi6 dent, without the advice and consent of the 

7 Senate; 

8 ‘‘(C) a position occupied by a limited term 

9 appointee, limited emergency appointee, or non10 career appointee in the Senior Executive Serv11 ice, as defined under paragraphs (5), (6), and 

12 (7), respectively, of section 3132(a); 

13 ‘‘(D) a position of a confidential or policy14 determining character under schedule C of sub15 part C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal 

16 Regulations, or any successor regulation; 

17 ‘‘(E) a position in the Senior Foreign Serv18 ice; 

19 ‘‘(F) any career position at an agency that, 

20 but for this section and section 2(b)(4) of the 

21 PLUM Act of 2020, would be included in the 

22 publication entitled ‘United States Government 

23 Policy and Supporting Positions’ (commonly re24 ferred to as the ‘Plum Book’); and 


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1 ‘‘(G) any other position classified at or 

2 above level GS–14 of the General Schedule (or 

3 equivalent) that is excepted from the competi4 tive service by law because of the confidential or 

5 policy-determining nature of the position duties. 

6 ‘‘(5) POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITION.—The 

7 term ‘policy and supporting position’— 

8 ‘‘(A) means any position at an agency, as 

9 determined by the Director, that, but for this sec10 tion and section 2(b)(4) of the PLUM Act of 

11 2020, would be included in the publication enti12 tled ‘United States Government Policy and Sup13 porting Positions’ (commonly referred to as the 

14 ‘Plum Book’); and 

15 ‘‘(B) may include— 

16 ‘‘(i) a position on any level of the Ex17 ecutive Schedule under subchapter II of 

18 chapter 53, or another position with an 

19 equivalent rate of pay; 

20 ‘‘(ii) a general position (as defined in 

21 section 3132(a)(9)) in the Senior Executive 

22 service; 

23 ‘‘(iii) a position in the Senior Foreign 

24 Service; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) a position of a confidential or 

2 policy-determining character under schedule 

3 C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code 

4 of Federal Regulations, or any successor 

5 regulation; and 

6 ‘‘(v) any other position classified at or 

7 above level GS–14 of the General Schedule 

8 (or equivalent) that is excepted from the 

9 competitive service by law because of the 

10 confidential or policy-determining nature of 

11 the position duties. 

12 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE.—The Director 

13 shall establish and maintain a public website containing 

14 the following information: 

15 ‘‘(1) Each policy and supporting position in the 

16 Federal Government, including any such position 

17 that is vacant. 

18 ‘‘(2) Each individual who— 

19 ‘‘(A) is serving in a position described in 

20 paragraph (1); or 

21 ‘‘(B) previously served in a position de22 scribed in paragraph (1) under the President 

23 then in office. 


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1 ‘‘(c) CONTENTS.—With respect to any policy and 

2 supporting position listed on the covered website, the Di3 rector shall include— 

4 ‘‘(1) the agency and agency component (includ5 ing the agency and bureau code used by the Office 

6 of Management and Budget) in which the position 

7 is located; 

8 ‘‘(2) the name of the position; 

9 ‘‘(3) the name of the individual occupying the 

10 position (if any); 

11 ‘‘(4) the geographic location of the position, in12 cluding the city, State or province, and country; 

13 ‘‘(5) the pay system for the position; 

14 ‘‘(6) the level, grade, or rate of pay; 

15 ‘‘(7) the term or duration of the appointment 

16 (if any); 

17 ‘‘(8) the expiration date, in the case of a time18 limited appointment; 

19 ‘‘(9) a unique identifier for each appointee to 

20 enable tracking the appointee across positions; and 

21 ‘‘(10) whether the position is vacant. 

22 ‘‘(d) FORMAT.—The Director shall make the data on 

23 the covered website available to the public at no cost over 

24 the internet in a searchable, sortable, downloadable, and 

25 machine-readable format so that the data qualifies as an 


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1 open Government data asset, as defined in section 3502 

2 of title 44. 

3 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.— 

4 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Each agency 

5 shall provide to the Director any information that 

6 the Director determines necessary to establish and 

7 maintain the covered website, including the informa8 tion uploaded under paragraph (4). 

9 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENCIES.—Not 

10 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 

11 PLUM Act of 2020, the Director shall issue instruc12 tions to agencies with specific requirements for the 

13 provision or uploading of information required under 

14 paragraph (1), including— 

15 ‘‘(A) specific data standards that an agen16 cy shall follow to ensure that the information is 

17 complete, accurate, and reliable; 

18 ‘‘(B) data quality assurance methods; and 

19 ‘‘(C) the timeframe during which an agen20 cy shall provide or upload the information, in21 cluding the timeframe described under para22 graph (4). 

23 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY.—The Director 

24 shall identify on the covered website any agency that 

25 has failed to provide— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the information required by the Di2 rector; 

3 ‘‘(B) complete, accurate, and reliable infor4 mation; or 

5 ‘‘(C) the information during the timeframe 

6 specified by the Director. 

7 ‘‘(4) MONTHLY BIENNIAL UPDATES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 

9 days after the date on which the covered 

10 website is established, and not less than once 

11 during each 30-day period 2-year period there12 after, the head of each agency shall upload to 

13 the covered website updated information (if 

14 any) on— 

15 ‘‘(i) the policy and supporting posi16 tions in the agency; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the appointees occupying those 

18 positions in the agency; and 

19 ‘‘(iii) the former appointees who 

20 served in policy and supporting positions in 

21 the agency under the President then in of22 fice. 

23 ‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—In24 formation provided under subparagraph (A) 


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1 shall supplement, not supplant, data previously 

2 provided under that subparagraph. 

3 ‘‘(5) OPM HELP DESK.—The Director shall es4 tablish a central help desk, to be operated by not 

5 more than 1 full-time employee, to assist any agency 

6 with implementing this section. 

7 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION.— 

8 ‘‘(A) 18F OFFICE.—The Director shall 

9 consult with the 18F office (or any successor 

10 office) within the General Services Administra11 tion for purposes of the development, establish12 ment, operation, and support of the covered 

13 website. 

14 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION OF AGENCIES.—The 

15 Director— 

16 ‘‘(i) may designate 1 or more agencies 

17 to participate in the development, estab18 lishment, operation, and support of the 

19 covered website; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) with respect to any such designa21 tion, may specify the scope of the respon22 sibilities of the agency so designated. 

23 ‘‘(f) RESPONSIBILITY OF AGENCIES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Each agen25 cy shall comply with the instructions and guidance 


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1 issued by the Director to carry out this section, and, 

2 upon request of the Director, shall provide appro3 priate assistance to the Director to ensure the suc4 cessful operation of the covered website in the man5 ner and within the timeframe specified by the Direc6 tor under subsection (e)(2). 

7 ‘‘(2) ENSURING COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, 

8 AND RELIABILITY.—The head of an agency shall in9 clude with any submission of information described 

10 in paragraph (1)— 

11 ‘‘(A) an explanation of how the agency en12 sured the information is complete, accurate, 

13 and reliable; and 

14 ‘‘(B) a certification that the information is 

15 complete, accurate, and reliable. 

16 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION VERIFICATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) SEMIANNUAL CONFIRMATION.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 

19 than semiannually, the Director, in coordination 

20 with the White House Office of Presidential 

21 Personnel, shall confirm that the information 

22 on the covered website is complete, accurate, re23 liable, and up-to-date. 

24 ‘‘(1) CONFIRMATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On the date that is 90 

2 days after the date on which the covered website 

3 is established, the Director, in coordination with 

4 the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, 

5 shall confirm that the information on the covered 

6 website is complete, accurate, reliable, and up-to7 date. 

8 ‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—On the date on 

9 which the Director makes a confirmation under 

10 subparagraph (A), the Director shall publish on 

11 the covered website a certification that the con12 firmation has been made. 

13 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.—In carrying 

14 out paragraph (1), the Director may— 

15 ‘‘(A) request additional information from 

16 an agency; and 

17 ‘‘(B) use any additional information pro18 vided to the Director or the White House Office 

19 of Presidential Personnel for the purposes of 

20 verification. 

21 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Director shall es22 tablish a process under which members of the public 

23 may provide feedback regarding the accuracy of the 

24 information on the covered website. 

25 ‘‘(h) DATA ARCHIVING.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 

2 after a transitional inauguration day (as defined in 

3 section 3349a), the Director, in consultation with 

4 the Archivist of the United States, shall archive the 

5 data that was compiled on the covered website for 

6 the preceding presidential administration. 

7 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Director 

8 shall make the data described in paragraph (1) pub9 licly available over the internet— 

10 ‘‘(A) on, or through a link on, the covered 

11 website; 

12 ‘‘(B) at no cost; and 

13 ‘‘(C) in a searchable, sortable, 

14 downloadable, and machine-readable format.’’. 

15 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec16 tions for subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, 

17 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

18 end the following: 

‘‘3330f. Government policy and supporting position data.’’. 

19 (3) DEADLINE.—Not later than 1 year after 

20 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 

21 the Office of Personnel Management shall establish 

22 the website required under section 3330f(b) of title 

23 5, United States Code, as added by subsection 

24 (a)(1). 

25 (b) OTHER MATTERS.— 


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1 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 

2 terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘covered website’’, and ‘‘policy and 

3 supporting position’’ have the meanings given those 

4 terms in section 3330f of title 5, United States 

5 Code, as added by subsection (a)(1). 

6 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000, 

8 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as 

9 may be necessary, to remain available until expended, 

10 for developing the covered website under section 

11 3330f(b) of title 5, United States Code, as added by 

12 subsection (a)(1). 

13 (3) GAO REVIEW AND REPORT.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year 

15 after the date on which the covered website is 

16 established, the Comptroller General of the 

17 United States shall conduct a review of, and 

18 issue a briefing or report on, the implementa19 tion of this Act and the amendments made by 

20 this Act. 

21 (B) CONTENTS.—The review conducted 

22 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 

23 (i) the quality of data collected and 

24 whether the data is complete, accurate, 

25 timely, and reliable; 


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1 (ii) any challenges experienced by 

2 agencies in implementing this Act and the 

3 amendments made by this Act; and 

4 (iii) any suggestions or modifications 

5 to enhance compliance with this Act and 

6 the amendments made by this Act, includ7 ing best practices for agencies to follow. 

8 (4) SUNSET OF PLUM BOOK.—Beginning on 

9 January 1, 2024— 

10 (A) the covered website shall serve as the 

11 public directory for policy and supporting posi12 tions in the Government; and 

13 (B) the publication entitled ‘‘United States 

14 Government Policy and Supporting Positions’’, 

15 commonly referred to as the ‘‘Plum Book’’, 

16 shall no longer be issued or published. 


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Calendar No. 597 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3896 

[Report No. 116–302] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to require 

and supporting positions, and for other purposes. of the individuals occupying Government policy ment to establish and maintain a public directory the Director of the Office of Personnel ManageNOVEMBER 30, 2020 

Reported with amendments 


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