PLUM Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 857 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 MARCH 18, 2021 Mr. CARPER (for himself and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Secu- rity and Governmental Affairs 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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSES. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Periodically Listing Updates to Management Act’’ or the 5 ‘‘PLUM Act’’. 6 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 857 IS (1) modernize the practice of publishing the 1 ‘‘Plum Book,’’ which has occurred nearly every 4 2 years since 1952, and contains data on more than 3 9,000 Federal civil service leadership and support 4 positions in the legislative and executive branches of 5 the Government that may be subject to noncompeti- 6 tive appointment; 7 (2) enhance transparency by reporting who is 8 serving in the Government and making policy deci- 9 sions; and 10 (3) improve the frequency, accuracy, and acces- 11 sibility of data on the individuals filling Government 12 policy and supporting positions. 13 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC WEBSITE ON GOVERN- 14 MENT POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITIONS. 15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 16 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 33 17 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 18 at the end the following: 19 ‘‘§ 3330f. Government policy and supporting position 20 data 21 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 22 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ means— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 857 IS ‘‘(A) any Executive agency, including the 1 United States Postal Service and the Postal 2 Regulatory Commission; 3 ‘‘(B) the Architect of the Capitol, the Gov- 4 ernment Accountability Office, the Government 5 Publishing Office, and the Library of Congress; 6 and 7 ‘‘(C) the Executive Office of the President 8 and any component within that Office (includ- 9 ing any successor component), including— 10 ‘‘(i) the Council of Economic Advi- 11 sors; 12 ‘‘(ii) the Council on Environmental 13 Quality; 14 ‘‘(iii) the National Security Council; 15 ‘‘(iv) the Office of the Vice President; 16 ‘‘(v) the Office of Policy Development; 17 ‘‘(vi) the Office of Administration; 18 ‘‘(vii) the Office of Management and 19 Budget; 20 ‘‘(viii) the Office of the United States 21 Trade Representative; 22 ‘‘(ix) the Office of Science and Tech- 23 nology Policy; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 857 IS ‘‘(x) the Office of National Drug Con- 1 trol Policy; and 2 ‘‘(xi) the White House Office. 3 ‘‘(2) APPOINTEE.—The term ‘appointee’— 4 ‘‘(A) means an individual serving in a pol- 5 icy and supporting position; and 6 ‘‘(B) includes an individual serving in a 7 policy and supporting position temporarily in an 8 acting capacity in accordance with— 9 ‘‘(i) sections 3345 through 3349d 10 (commonly referred to as the ‘Federal Va- 11 cancies Reform Act of 1998’); 12 ‘‘(ii) any other statutory provision de- 13 scribed in section 3347(a)(1); or 14 ‘‘(iii) a Presidential appointment de- 15 scribed in section 3347(a)(2). 16 ‘‘(3) COVERED WEBSITE.—The term ‘covered 17 website’ means the website established and main- 18 tained by the Director under subsection (b). 19 ‘‘(4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 20 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 21 ‘‘(5) POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITION.—The 22 term ‘policy and supporting position’ means— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 857 IS ‘‘(A) a position that requires appointment 1 by the President, by and with the advice and 2 consent of the Senate; 3 ‘‘(B) a position that requires or permits 4 appointment by the President or Vice Presi- 5 dent, without the advice and consent of the 6 Senate; 7 ‘‘(C) a position occupied by a limited term 8 appointee, limited emergency appointee, or non- 9 career appointee in the Senior Executive Serv- 10 ice, as defined under paragraphs (5), (6), and 11 (7), respectively, of section 3132(a); 12 ‘‘(D) a position of a confidential or policy- 13 determining character under schedule C of sub- 14 part C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal 15 Regulations, or any successor regulation; 16 ‘‘(E) a position in the Senior Foreign Serv- 17 ice; 18 ‘‘(F) any career position at an agency that, 19 but for this section and section 2(b)(4) of the 20 PLUM Act, would be included in the publica- 21 tion entitled ‘United States Government Policy 22 and Supporting Positions’ (commonly referred 23 to as the ‘Plum Book’); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 857 IS ‘‘(G) any other position classified at or 1 above level GS–14 of the General Schedule (or 2 equivalent) that is excepted from the competi- 3 tive service by law because of the confidential or 4 policy-determining nature of the position duties. 5 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE.—The Director 6 shall establish and maintain a public website containing 7 the following information: 8 ‘‘(1) Each policy and supporting position in the 9 Federal Government, including any such position 10 that is vacant. 11 ‘‘(2) Each individual who— 12 ‘‘(A) is serving in a position described in 13 paragraph (1); or 14 ‘‘(B) previously served in a position de- 15 scribed in paragraph (1) under the President 16 then in office. 17 ‘‘(c) CONTENTS.—With respect to any policy and 18 supporting position listed on the covered website, the Di- 19 rector shall include— 20 ‘‘(1) the agency and agency component (includ- 21 ing the agency and bureau code used by the Office 22 of Management and Budget) in which the position 23 is located; 24 ‘‘(2) the name of the position; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 857 IS ‘‘(3) the name of the individual occupying the 1 position (if any); 2 ‘‘(4) the geographic location of the position, in- 3 cluding the city, State or province, and country; 4 ‘‘(5) the pay system for the position; 5 ‘‘(6) the level, grade, or rate of pay; 6 ‘‘(7) the term or duration of the appointment 7 (if any); 8 ‘‘(8) the expiration date, in the case of a time- 9 limited appointment; 10 ‘‘(9) a unique identifier for each appointee to 11 enable tracking the appointee across positions; and 12 ‘‘(10) whether the position is vacant. 13 ‘‘(d) FORMAT.—The Director shall make the data on 14 the covered website available to the public at no cost over 15 the internet in a searchable, sortable, downloadable, and 16 machine-readable format so that the data qualifies as an 17 open Government data asset, as defined in section 3502 18 of title 44. 19 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.— 20 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Each agency 21 shall provide to the Director any information that 22 the Director determines necessary to establish and 23 maintain the covered website, including the informa- 24 tion uploaded under paragraph (4). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 857 IS ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENCIES.—Not 1 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 2 PLUM Act, the Director shall issue instructions to 3 agencies with specific requirements for the provision 4 or uploading of information required under para- 5 graph (1), including— 6 ‘‘(A) specific data standards that an agen- 7 cy shall follow to ensure that the information is 8 complete, accurate, and reliable; 9 ‘‘(B) data quality assurance methods; and 10 ‘‘(C) the timeframe during which an agen- 11 cy shall provide or upload the information, in- 12 cluding the timeframe described under para- 13 graph (4). 14 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY.—The Director 15 shall identify on the covered website any agency that 16 has failed to provide— 17 ‘‘(A) the information required by the Di- 18 rector; 19 ‘‘(B) complete, accurate, and reliable infor- 20 mation; or 21 ‘‘(C) the information during the timeframe 22 specified by the Director. 23 ‘‘(4) MONTHLY UPDATES.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 857 IS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 1 days after the date on which the covered 2 website is established, and not less than once 3 during each 30-day period thereafter, the head 4 of each agency shall upload to the covered 5 website updated information (if any) on— 6 ‘‘(i) the policy and supporting posi- 7 tions in the agency; 8 ‘‘(ii) the appointees occupying those 9 positions in the agency; and 10 ‘‘(iii) the former appointees who 11 served in policy and supporting positions in 12 the agency under the President then in of- 13 fice. 14 ‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—In- 15 formation provided under subparagraph (A) 16 shall supplement, not supplant, data previously 17 provided under that subparagraph. 18 ‘‘(5) OPM HELP DESK.—The Director shall es- 19 tablish a central help desk, to be operated by not 20 more than 1 full-time employee, to assist any agency 21 with implementing this section. 22 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION.— 23 ‘‘(A) 18F OFFICE.—The Director shall 24 consult with the 18F office (or any successor 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 857 IS office) within the General Services Administra- 1 tion for purposes of the development, establish- 2 ment, operation, and support of the covered 3 website. 4 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION OF AGENCIES.—The 5 Director— 6 ‘‘(i) may designate 1 or more agencies 7 to participate in the development, estab- 8 lishment, operation, and support of the 9 covered website; and 10 ‘‘(ii) with respect to any such designa- 11 tion, may specify the scope of the respon- 12 sibilities of the agency so designated. 13 ‘‘(f) RESPONSIBILITY OF AGENCIES.— 14 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Each agen- 15 cy shall comply with the instructions and guidance 16 issued by the Director to carry out this section, and, 17 upon request of the Director, shall provide appro- 18 priate assistance to the Director to ensure the suc- 19 cessful operation of the covered website in the man- 20 ner and within the timeframe specified by the Direc- 21 tor under subsection (e)(2). 22 ‘‘(2) ENSURING COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, 23 AND RELIABILITY.—The head of an agency shall in- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 857 IS clude with any submission of information described 1 in paragraph (1)— 2 ‘‘(A) an explanation of how the agency en- 3 sured the information is complete, accurate, 4 and reliable; and 5 ‘‘(B) a certification that the information is 6 complete, accurate, and reliable. 7 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION VERIFICATION.— 8 ‘‘(1) SEMIANNUAL CONFIRMATION.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 10 than semiannually, the Director, in coordination 11 with the White House Office of Presidential 12 Personnel, shall confirm that the information 13 on the covered website is complete, accurate, re- 14 liable, and up-to-date. 15 ‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—On the date on 16 which the Director makes a confirmation under 17 subparagraph (A), the Director shall publish on 18 the covered website a certification that the con- 19 firmation has been made. 20 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.—In carrying 21 out paragraph (1), the Director may— 22 ‘‘(A) request additional information from 23 an agency; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 857 IS ‘‘(B) use any additional information pro- 1 vided to the Director or the White House Office 2 of Presidential Personnel for the purposes of 3 verification. 4 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Director shall es- 5 tablish a process under which members of the public 6 may provide feedback regarding the accuracy of the 7 information on the covered website. 8 ‘‘(h) DATA ARCHIVING.— 9 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 10 after a transitional inauguration day (as defined in 11 section 3349a), the Director, in consultation with 12 the Archivist of the United States, shall archive the 13 data that was compiled on the covered website for 14 the preceding presidential administration. 15 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Director 16 shall make the data described in paragraph (1) pub- 17 licly available over the internet— 18 ‘‘(A) on, or through a link on, the covered 19 website; 20 ‘‘(B) at no cost; and 21 ‘‘(C) in a searchable, sortable, 22 downloadable, and machine-readable format.’’. 23 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 24 tions for subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:32 Apr 11, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S857.IS S857 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 857 IS United States Code, is amended by adding at the 1 end the following: 2 ‘‘3330f. Government policy and supporting position data.’’. (3) DEADLINE.—Not later than 1 year after 3 the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of 4 the Office of Personnel Management shall establish 5 the website required under section 3330f(b) of title 6 5, United States Code, as added by subsection 7 (a)(1). 8 (b) OTHER MATTERS.— 9 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the 10 terms ‘‘agency’’, ‘‘covered website’’, and ‘‘policy and 11 supporting position’’ have the meanings given those 12 terms in section 3330f of title 5, United States 13 Code, as added by [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]