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 with-
in 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSES. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Periodically Listing Updates to Management Act’’ or the 
‘‘PLUM Act’’. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 
(1) modernize the practice of publishing the 
‘‘Plum Book,’’ which has occurred nearly every four 
years since 1952, and contains data on over 9,000 
Federal civil service leadership and support positions 
in the legislative and executive branches of the Gov-
ernment that may be subject to noncompetitive ap-
pointment; 
(2) enhance transparency by reporting who is 
serving in the Government and making policy deci-
sions; and 
(3) improve the frequency, accuracy and acces-
sibility of data on the individuals filling government 
policy and supporting positions. 
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC WEBSITE ON GOVERN-
MENT POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITIONS. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 33 
of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
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‘‘§ 3330f. Government policy and supporting position 
data 
‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ means— 
‘‘(A) any Executive agency, including the 
United States Postal Service and the Postal 
Regulatory Commission; 
‘‘(B) the Architect of the Capitol, the Gov-
ernment Accountability Office, the Government 
Publishing Office, and the Library of Congress; 
and 
‘‘(C) the Executive Office of the President 
and any component within such Office (includ-
ing any successor component), including— 
‘‘(i) the Council of Economic Advi-
sors; 
‘‘(ii) the Council on Environmental 
Quality; 
‘‘(iii) the National Security Council; 
‘‘(iv) the Office of the Vice President; 
‘‘(v) the Office of Policy Development; 
‘‘(vi) the Office of Administration; 
‘‘(vii) the Office of Management and 
Budget; 
‘‘(viii) the Office of the United States 
Trade Representative; 
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‘‘(ix) the Office of Science and Tech-
nology Policy; 
‘‘(x) the Office of National Drug Con-
trol Policy; and 
‘‘(xi) the White House Office. 
‘‘(2) COVERED
WEBSITE.—The term ‘covered 
website’ means the website established and main-
tained by the Director under subsection (b). 
‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 
‘‘(4) APPOINTEE.—The term ‘appointee’— 
‘‘(A) means an individual serving in a pol-
icy and supporting position; and 
‘‘(B) includes an individual serving in such 
a position temporarily in an acting capacity in 
accordance with— 
‘‘(i) sections 3345 through 3349d 
(commonly referred to as the ‘Federal Va-
cancies Reform Act of 1998’); 
‘‘(ii) any other statutory provision de-
scribed in section 3347(a)(1); or 
‘‘(iii) a Presidential appointment de-
scribed in section 3347(a)(2). 
‘‘(5) POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITION.—The 
term ‘policy and supporting position’ means— 
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‘‘(A) a position that requires appointment 
by the President, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Senate; 
‘‘(B) a position that requires or permits 
appointment by the President or Vice Presi-
dent, without the advice and consent of the 
Senate; 
‘‘(C) a position occupied by a limited term 
appointee, limited emergency appointee, or non-
career appointee in the Senior Executive Serv-
ice, as defined under paragraphs (5), (6), and 
(7), respectively, of section 3132(a); 
‘‘(D) a position of a confidential or policy- 
determining character under schedule C of sub-
part C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal 
Regulations, or any successor regulation; 
‘‘(E) a position in the Senior Foreign Serv-
ice; 
‘‘(F) any career position at an agency that, 
but for this section and section 2(b)(3) of the 
PLUM Act, would be included in the publica-
tion entitled ‘United States Government Policy 
and Supporting Positions’, commonly referred 
to as the ‘Plum Book’; and 
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‘‘(G) any other position classified at or 
above level GS–14 of the General Schedule (or 
equivalent) that is excepted from the competi-
tive service by law because of the confidential or 
policy-determining nature of the position duties. 
‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE.—Not later than 
1 year after the date of enactment of the PLUM Act, the 
Director shall establish, and thereafter maintain, a public 
website containing the following information for the Presi-
dent then in office and for each subsequent President: 
‘‘(1) Each policy and supporting position in the 
Federal Government, including any such position 
that is vacant. 
‘‘(2) Each individual who— 
‘‘(A) is serving in a position described in 
paragraph (1); or 
‘‘(B) previously served in a position de-
scribed in paragraph (1) under the applicable 
President. 
‘‘(c) CONTENTS.—With respect to any policy and 
supporting position listed on the covered website, the Di-
rector shall include— 
‘‘(1) the agency, and agency component, (in-
cluding the agency and bureau code used by the Of-
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fice of Management and Budget) in which the posi-
tion is located; 
‘‘(2) the name of the position; 
‘‘(3) the name of the individual occupying such 
position (if any); 
‘‘(4) the geographic location of the position, in-
cluding the city, State or province, and country; 
‘‘(5) the pay system under which the position is 
paid; 
‘‘(6) the level, grade, or rate of pay; 
‘‘(7) the term or duration of the appointment 
(if any); 
‘‘(8) the expiration date, in the case of a time- 
limited appointment; 
‘‘(9) a unique identifier for each appointee to 
enable tracking such appointee across positions; and 
‘‘(10) whether the position is vacant. 
‘‘(d) FORMAT.—The Director shall make the data on 
the covered website available to the public at no cost over 
the internet in a searchable, sortable, downloadable, and 
machine readable format so that the data qualifies as an 
open Government data asset, as defined in section 3502 
of title 44. 
‘‘(e) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.— 
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‘‘(1) INFORMATION
REQUIRED.—Each agency 
shall provide to the Director any information that 
the Director determines necessary to establish and 
maintain the covered website, including the informa-
tion uploaded pursuant to paragraph (4). 
‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS
FOR
AGENCIES.—Not 
later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 
PLUM Act, the Director shall issue instructions to 
agencies with specific requirements for the provision 
or uploading of information required under para-
graph (1), including— 
‘‘(A) specific data standards that an agen-
cy shall follow to ensure that the information is 
complete, accurate, and reliable; 
‘‘(B) data quality assurance methods; and 
‘‘(C) the timeframe during which an agen-
cy shall provide or upload the information, in-
cluding the timeframe described under para-
graph (4). 
‘‘(3) PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY.—The Director 
shall identify on the covered website any agency that 
has failed to provide— 
‘‘(A) the information required by the Di-
rector; 
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‘‘(B) complete, accurate, and reliable infor-
mation; or 
‘‘(C) the information during the timeframe 
specified by the Director. 
‘‘(4) MONTHLY UPDATES.— 
‘‘(A) Not later than 90 days after the date 
the covered website is established, and not less 
than once during each 30-day period thereafter, 
the head of each agency shall upload to the cov-
ered website updated information (if any) on— 
‘‘(i) the policy and supporting posi-
tions in the agency; 
‘‘(ii) the appointees occupying such 
positions in the agency; and 
‘‘(iii) the former appointees who 
served in the agency under the President 
then in office. 
‘‘(B) Information provided under subpara-
graph (A) shall supplement, not supplant, pre-
viously provided data under such subparagraph. 
‘‘(5) OPM HELP DESK.—The Director shall es-
tablish a central help desk, to be operated by not 
more than one full-time employee, to assist any 
agency with implementing this section. 
‘‘(6) COORDINATION.— 
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‘‘(A) The Director shall consult with the 
18F office (or any successor office) within the 
General Services Administration for purposes of 
the development, establishment, operation, and 
support of the covered website. 
‘‘(B) The Director may designate one or 
more Federal agencies to participate in the de-
velopment, establishment, operation, and sup-
port of the covered website. With respect to any 
such designation, the Director may specify the 
scope of the responsibilities of the Federal 
agency so designated. 
‘‘(f) RESPONSIBILITY OF AGENCIES.— 
‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Each agen-
cy shall comply with the instructions and guidance 
issued by the Director to carry out this Act, and, 
upon request of the Director, shall provide appro-
priate assistance to the Director to ensure the suc-
cessful operation of the covered website in the man-
ner and within the timeframe specified by the Direc-
tor under subsection (e)(2). 
‘‘(2) ENSURING
COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, 
AND RELIABILITY.—With respect to any submission 
of information described in paragraph (1), the head 
of an agency shall include an explanation of how the 
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‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 
after a transitional inauguration day (as defined in 
section 3349a), the Director, in consultation with 
the Archivist of the United States, shall archive the 
data that was compiled on the covered website for 
the preceding presidential administration. 
‘‘(2) PUBLIC
AVAILABILITY.—The Director 
shall make the data described in paragraph (1) pub-
licly available over the internet— 
‘‘(A) on, or through a link on, the covered 
website; 
‘‘(B) at no cost; and 
‘‘(C) in a searchable, sortable, download-
able, and machine readable format.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec-
tions for subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, 
United States Code, is amended by adding at the 
end the following: 
‘‘3330f. Government policy and supporting position data.’’. 
(b) OTHER MATTERS.— 
(1) AUTHORIZATION
OF
APPROPRIATIONS.— 
There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000, 
to remain available until expended, for developing 
the website under section 3330f(b) of title 5, United 
States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1). 
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(2) GAO REVIEW AND REPORT.—Not later than 
1 year after the date such website is established, the 
Comptroller General shall conduct a review, and 
issue a briefing or report, on the implementation of 
this Act and the amendments made by this Act. The 
review shall include— 
(A) the quality of data required to be col-
lected and whether such data is complete, accu-
rate, timely, and reliable; 
(B) any challenges experienced by agencies 
in implementing this Act and the amendments 
made by this Act; and 
(C) any suggestions or modifications to en-
hance compliance with this Act and the amend-
ments made by this Act, including best prac-
tices for agencies to follow. 
(3) SUNSET
OF
PLUM
BOOK.—Beginning on 
January 1, 2024, such website shall serve as the 
public directory for policy and supporting positions 
in the Government, and the publication entitled 
‘‘United States Government Policy and Supporting 
Positions’’, commonly referred to as the ‘‘Plum 
Book’’, shall no longer be issued or published. 
Æ 
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