I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2043 

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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 18, 2021 

Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York (for herself, Mr. CONNOLLY, and 

Mr. SARBANES) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Oversight and Reform, and in addition to the Committee 

on House Administration, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

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’’ or the 

4 ‘‘PLUM Act’’. 

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 four 

8 years since 1952, and contains data on over 9,000 

9 Federal civil service leadership and support positions 

10 in the legislative and executive branches of the Gov11 ernment that may be subject to noncompetitive ap12 pointment; 

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 such 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) COVERED WEBSITE.—The term ‘covered 

7 website’ means the website established and main8 tained by the Director under subsection (b). 

9 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 

10 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

11 ‘‘(4) APPOINTEE.—The term ‘appointee’— 

12 ‘‘(A) means an individual serving in a pol13 icy and supporting position; and 

14 ‘‘(B) includes an individual serving in such 

15 a position temporarily in an acting capacity in 

16 accordance with— 

17 ‘‘(i) sections 3345 through 3349d 

18 (commonly referred to as the ‘Federal Va19 cancies Reform Act of 1998’); 

20 ‘‘(ii) any other statutory provision de21 scribed in section 3347(a)(1); or 

22 ‘‘(iii) a Presidential appointment de23 scribed in section 3347(a)(2). 

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)(3) of the 

21 PLUM Act, would be included in the publica22 tion entitled ‘United States Government Policy 

23 and Supporting Positions’, commonly referred 

24 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 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE.—Not later than 

7 1 year after the date of enactment of the PLUM Act, the 

8 Director shall establish, and thereafter maintain, a public 

9 website containing the following information for the Presi10 dent then in office and for each subsequent President: 

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

12 Federal Government, including any such position 

13 that is vacant. 

14 ‘‘(2) Each individual who— 

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

16 paragraph (1); or 

17 ‘‘(B) previously served in a position de18 scribed in paragraph (1) under the applicable 

19 President. 

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

21 supporting position listed on the covered website, the Di22 rector shall include— 

23 ‘‘(1) the agency, and agency component, (in24 cluding the agency and bureau code used by the OfVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:25 Apr 26, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2043.IH H2043

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1 fice of Management and Budget) in which the posi2 tion is located; 

3 ‘‘(2) the name of the position; 

4 ‘‘(3) the name of the individual occupying such 

5 position (if any); 

6 ‘‘(4) the geographic location of the position, in7 cluding the city, State or province, and country; 

8 ‘‘(5) the pay system under which the position is 

9 paid; 

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

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

12 (if any); 

13 ‘‘(8) the expiration date, in the case of a time14 limited appointment; 

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

16 enable tracking such appointee across positions; and 

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

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

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

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

21 machine readable format so that the data qualifies as an 

22 open Government data asset, as defined in section 3502 

23 of title 44. 

24 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.— 


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

2 shall provide to the Director any information that 

3 the Director determines necessary to establish and 

4 maintain the covered website, including the informa5 tion uploaded pursuant to paragraph (4). 

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

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

8 PLUM Act, the Director shall issue instructions to 

9 agencies with specific requirements for the provision 

10 or uploading of information required under para11 graph (1), including— 

12 ‘‘(A) specific data standards that an agen13 cy shall follow to ensure that the information is 

14 complete, accurate, and reliable; 

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

16 ‘‘(C) the timeframe during which an agen17 cy shall provide or upload the information, in18 cluding the timeframe described under para19 graph (4). 

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

21 shall identify on the covered website any agency that 

22 has failed to provide— 

23 ‘‘(A) the information required by the Di24 rector; 


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1 ‘‘(B) complete, accurate, and reliable infor2 mation; or 

3 ‘‘(C) the information during the timeframe 

4 specified by the Director. 

5 ‘‘(4) MONTHLY UPDATES.— 

6 ‘‘(A) Not later than 90 days after the date 

7 the covered website is established, and not less 

8 than once during each 30-day period thereafter, 

9 the head of each agency shall upload to the cov10 ered website updated information (if any) on— 

11 ‘‘(i) the policy and supporting posi12 tions in the agency; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the appointees occupying such 

14 positions in the agency; and 

15 ‘‘(iii) the former appointees who 

16 served in the agency under the President 

17 then in office. 

18 ‘‘(B) Information provided under subpara19 graph (A) shall supplement, not supplant, pre20 viously provided data under such subparagraph. 

21 ‘‘(5) OPM HELP DESK.—The Director shall es22 tablish a central help desk, to be operated by not 

23 more than one full-time employee, to assist any 

24 agency with implementing this section. 

25 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) The Director shall consult with the 

2 18F office (or any successor office) within the 

3 General Services Administration for purposes of 

4 the development, establishment, operation, and 

5 support of the covered website. 

6 ‘‘(B) The Director may designate one or 

7 more Federal agencies to participate in the de8 velopment, establishment, operation, and sup9 port of the covered website. With respect to any 

10 such designation, the Director may specify the 

11 scope of the responsibilities of the Federal 

12 agency so designated. 

13 ‘‘(f) RESPONSIBILITY OF AGENCIES.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Each agen15 cy shall comply with the instructions and guidance 

16 issued by the Director to carry out this Act, and, 

17 upon request of the Director, shall provide appro18 priate assistance to the Director to ensure the suc19 cessful operation of the covered website in the man20 ner and within the timeframe specified by the Direc21 tor under subsection (e)(2). 

22 ‘‘(2) ENSURING COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, 

23 AND RELIABILITY.—With respect to any submission 

24 of information described in paragraph (1), the head 

25 of an agency shall include an explanation of how the 


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1 agency ensured the information is complete, accu2 rate, and reliable, and a certification that such infor3 mation is complete, accurate, and reliable. 

4 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION VERIFICATION.— 

5 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 

6 semiannually, the Director, in coordination with the 

7 White House Office of Presidential Personnel, shall 

8 confirm that the information on the covered website 

9 is complete, accurate, reliable, and up-to-date. On 

10 the date of any such confirmation, the Director shall 

11 publish on the covered website a certification of that 

12 such confirmation 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, download14 able, 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 (b) OTHER MATTERS.— 

20 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

22 to remain available until expended, for developing 

23 the website under section 3330f(b) of title 5, United 

24 States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1). 


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1 (2) GAO REVIEW AND REPORT.—Not later than 

2 1 year after the date such website is established, the 

3 Comptroller General shall conduct a review, and 

4 issue a briefing or report, on the implementation of 

5 this Act and the amendments made by this Act. The 

6 review shall include— 

7 (A) the quality of data required to be col8 lected and whether such data is complete, accu9 rate, timely, and reliable; 

10 (B) any challenges experienced by agencies 

11 in implementing this Act and the amendments 

12 made by this Act; and 

13 (C) any suggestions or modifications to en14 hance compliance with this Act and the amend15 ments made by this Act, including best prac16 tices for agencies to follow. 

17 (3) SUNSET OF PLUM BOOK.—Beginning on 

18 January 1, 2024, such website shall serve as the 

19 public directory for policy and supporting positions 

20 in the Government, and the publication entitled 

21 ‘‘United States Government Policy and Supporting 

22 Positions’’, commonly referred to as the ‘‘Plum 

23 Book’’, shall no longer be issued or published. 

Æ 


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