II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3650 

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 

FEBRUARY 15, 2022 

Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Periodically Listing 

5 Updates to Management Act of 2022’’ or the ‘‘PLUM Act 

6 of 2022’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC WEBSITE ON GOVERN2 MENT POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITIONS. 

3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

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

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

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘§ 3330f. Government policy and supporting position 

8 data 

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

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

11 ‘‘(A) any Executive agency, the United 

12 States Postal Service, and the Postal Regu13 latory Commission; 

14 ‘‘(B) the Architect of the Capitol, the Gov15 ernment Accountability Office, the Government 

16 Publishing Office, and the Library of Congress; 

17 and 

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

19 and any component within that Office (includ20 ing any successor component), including— 

21 ‘‘(i) the Council of Economic Advi22 sors; 

23 ‘‘(ii) the Council on Environmental 

24 Quality; 

25 ‘‘(iii) the National Security Council; 

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


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

2 ‘‘(vi) the Office of Administration; 

3 ‘‘(vii) the Office of Management and 

4 Budget; 

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

6 Trade Representative; 

7 ‘‘(ix) the Office of Science and Tech8 nology Policy; 

9 ‘‘(x) the Office of National Drug Con10 trol Policy; and 

11 ‘‘(xi) the White House Office, includ12 ing the White House Office of Presidential 

13 Personnel. 

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

15 ‘‘(A) means an individual serving in a pol16 icy and supporting position; and 

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

18 a position temporarily in an acting capacity in 

19 accordance with— 

20 ‘‘(i) sections 3345 through 3349d 

21 (commonly referred to as the ‘Federal Va22 cancies Reform Act of 1998’); 

23 ‘‘(ii) any other statutory provision de24 scribed in section 3347(a)(1); or 


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1 ‘‘(iii) a Presidential appointment de2 scribed in section 3347(a)(2). 

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

4 website’ means the website established and main5 tained by the Director under subsection (b). 

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

7 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

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

9 term ‘policy and supporting position’ means— 

10 ‘‘(A) a position that requires appointment 

11 by the President, by and with the advice and 

12 consent of the Senate; 

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

14 appointment by the President or Vice Presi15 dent, without the advice and consent of the 

16 Senate; 

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

18 appointee, limited emergency appointee, or non19 career appointee in the Senior Executive Serv20 ice, as defined under paragraphs (5), (6), and 

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

22 ‘‘(D) a position of a confidential or policy23 determining character under schedule C of sub24 part C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal 

25 Regulations, or any successor regulation; 


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1 ‘‘(E) a position in the Senior Foreign Serv2 ice; 

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

4 but for this section and section 2(b)(3) of the 

5 PLUM Act of 2022, would be included in the 

6 publication entitled ‘United States Government 

7 Policy and Supporting Positions’, commonly re8 ferred to as the ‘Plum Book’; and 

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

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

11 equivalent) that is excepted from the competi12 tive service by law because of the confidential or 

13 policy-determining nature of the position duties. 

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

15 1 year after the date of enactment of the PLUM Act of 

16 2022, the Director shall establish, and thereafter the Di17 rector shall maintain, a public website containing the fol18 lowing information for the President in office on the date 

19 of establishment and for each subsequent President: 

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

21 Federal Government, including any such position 

22 that is vacant. 

23 ‘‘(2) The name of each individual who— 

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

25 paragraph (1); or 


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1 ‘‘(B) previously served in a position de2 scribed in such paragraph under the applicable 

3 President. 

4 ‘‘(3) Information on— 

5 ‘‘(A) any Government-wide or agency-wide 

6 limitation on the total number of positions in 

7 the Senior Executive Service under section 

8 3133 or 3132 or the total number of positions 

9 under schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of 

10 title 5, Code of Federal Regulations; and 

11 ‘‘(B) the total number of individuals occu12 pying such positions. 

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

14 supporting position listed on the covered website, the Di15 rector shall include— 

16 ‘‘(1) the agency, and agency component, (in17 cluding the agency and bureau code used by the Of18 fice of Management and Budget) in which the posi19 tion is located; 

20 ‘‘(2) the name of the position; 

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

22 position (if any); 

23 ‘‘(4) the geographic location of the position, in24 cluding the city, State or province, and country; 


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

2 paid; 

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

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

5 (if any); 

6 ‘‘(8) the expiration date, in the case of a time7 limited appointment; 

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

9 enable tracking the appointee across positions; 

10 ‘‘(10) whether the position is vacant; and 

11 ‘‘(11) for any position that is vacant— 

12 ‘‘(A) for a position for which appointment 

13 is required to be made by the President by and 

14 with the advice and consent of the Senate, the 

15 name of the acting official; and 

16 ‘‘(B) for other positions, the name of the 

17 official performing the duties of the vacant po18 sition. 

19 ‘‘(d) CURRENT DATA.—For each agency, the Direc20 tor shall indicate in the information on the covered website 

21 the date that the agency last updated the data. 

22 ‘‘(e) 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 ‘‘(f) 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 2022, 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 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 thereafter, the head 

12 of each agency shall upload to the covered 

13 website updated information (if any) on— 

14 ‘‘(i) the policy and supporting posi15 tions in the agency; 

16 ‘‘(ii) the appointees occupying such 

17 positions in the agency; and 

18 ‘‘(iii) the former appointees who 

19 served in such positions in the agency 

20 under the President then in office. 

21 ‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—In22 formation provided under subparagraph (A) 

23 shall supplement, not supplant, previously pro24 vided information under that subparagraph. 


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1 ‘‘(5) OPM HELP DESK.—The Director shall es2 tablish a central help desk, to be operated by not 

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

4 with implementing this section. 

5 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION.—The Director may des6 ignate 1 or more agencies to participate in the devel7 opment, establishment, operation, and support of the 

8 covered website. With respect to any such designa9 tion, the Director may specify the scope of the re10 sponsibilities of the agency so designated. 

11 ‘‘(7) DATA STANDARDS AND TIMING.—The Di12 rector shall make available on the covered website 

13 information regarding data collection standards, 

14 quality assurance methods, and time frames for re15 porting data to the Director. 

16 ‘‘(8) REGULATIONS.—The Director may pre17 scribe regulations necessary for the administration 

18 of this section. 

19 ‘‘(g) RESPONSIBILITY OF AGENCIES.— 

20 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Each agen21 cy shall comply with the instructions and guidance 

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

23 upon request of the Director, shall provide appro24 priate assistance to the Director to ensure the suc25 cessful operation of the covered website in the manVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:06 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3650.IS S3650

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1 ner and within the timeframe specified by the Direc2 tor under subsection (f)(2). 

3 ‘‘(2) ENSURING COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, 

4 AND RELIABILITY.—With respect to any submission 

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

6 of an agency shall include— 

7 ‘‘(A) an explanation of how the agency en8 sured the information is complete, accurate, 

9 and reliable; and 

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

11 complete, accurate, and reliable. 

12 ‘‘(h) INFORMATION VERIFICATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) SEMIANNUAL CONFIRMATION.— 

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

15 than semiannually, the Director, in coordination 

16 with the White House Office of Presidential 

17 Personnel, shall confirm that the information 

18 on the covered website is complete, accurate, re19 liable, and up-to-date. 

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

21 which the Director makes a confirmation under 

22 subparagraph (A), the Director shall publish on 

23 the covered website a certification that the con24 firmation has been made. 


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

2 out paragraph (1), the Director may— 

3 ‘‘(A) request additional information from 

4 an agency; and 

5 ‘‘(B) use any additional information pro6 vided to the Director or the White House Office 

7 of Presidential Personnel for the purposes of 

8 verification. 

9 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Director shall es10 tablish a process under which members of the public 

11 may provide feedback regarding the accuracy of the 

12 information on the covered website. 

13 ‘‘(i) DATA ARCHIVING.— 

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

15 after a transitional inauguration day (as defined in 

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

17 the Archivist of the United States, shall archive the 

18 data that was compiled on the covered website for 

19 the preceding presidential administration. 

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

21 shall make the data described in paragraph (1) pub22 licly available over the internet— 

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

24 website; 

25 ‘‘(B) at no cost; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) in a searchable, sortable, 

2 downloadable, and machine-readable format. 

3 ‘‘(j) REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

5 the covered website is established, and every year 

6 thereafter, the Director, in coordination with the 

7 White House Office of Presidential Personnel, shall 

8 publish a report on the covered website that— 

9 ‘‘(A) contains summary-level information 

10 on the demographics of each appointee; and 

11 ‘‘(B) provide the information in a struc12 tured data format that— 

13 ‘‘(i) is searchable, sortable, and 

14 downloadable; 

15 ‘‘(ii) makes use of common identifiers 

16 wherever possible; and 

17 ‘‘(iii) contains current and historical 

18 data regarding the information. 

19 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each report published 

21 under paragraph (1) shall— 

22 ‘‘(i) include self-identified data with 

23 respect to each type of appointee on race, 

24 ethnicity, Tribal affiliation, gender, dis25 ability, sexual orientation, veteran status, 


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1 and whether the appointee is over the age 

2 of 40; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) allow for users of the covered 

4 website to view the type of appointee by 

5 agency or component, along with the data 

6 described in clause (i), alone and in com7 bination, to the greatest level detail pos8 sible without allowing the identification of 

9 individual appointees. 

10 ‘‘(B) OPTION TO NOT SPECIFY.—When 

11 each category of data described in subpara12 graph (A)(i) is collected, each appointee shall be 

13 allowed an option to not specify with respect to 

14 any such category. 

15 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION.—The Director shall 

16 consult with the Committee on Homeland Secu17 rity and Governmental Affairs of the Senate 

18 and the Committee on Oversight and Reform of 

19 the House of Representatives regarding reports 

20 published under this subsection and the infor21 mation in the reports to determine whether the 

22 intent of this section is being fulfilled and if ad23 ditional information or other changes are need24 ed for the reports. 


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1 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSION OF CAREER POSITIONS.—For 

2 purposes of applying the term ‘appointee’ in this 

3 subsection, that term does not include any individual 

4 appointed to a position described in subsection 

5 (a)(5)(F).’’. 

6 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec7 tions for subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, 

8 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

9 end the following: 

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

10 (b) OTHER MATTERS.— 

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

12 terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘covered website’’, ‘‘Director’’, and 

13 ‘‘policy and supporting position’’ have the meanings 

14 given those terms in section 3330f of title 5, United 

15 States Code, as added by subsection (a). 

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

17 1 year after the date on which the Director estab18 lishes the covered website, the Comptroller General 

19 of the United States shall conduct a review of, and 

20 issue a briefing or report on, the implementation of 

21 this Act and the amendments made by this Act, 

22 which shall include— 

23 (A) the quality of data required to be col24 lected and whether the data is complete, accu25 rate, timely, and reliable; 


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1 (B) any challenges experienced by agencies 

2 in implementing this Act and the amendments 

3 made by this Act; and 

4 (C) any suggestions or modifications to en5 hance compliance with this Act and the amend6 ments made by this Act, including best prac7 tices for agencies to follow. 

8 (3) 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. 

17 (4) FUNDING.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—No additional amounts 

19 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

20 this Act or the amendments made by this Act. 

21 (B) OTHER FUNDING.—The Director shall 

22 carry out this Act and the amendments made 

23 by this Act using amounts otherwise available 

24 to the Director. 

Æ 


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