PLUM Act

IB Union Calendar No. 157 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2043 [Report No. 117–169, Part I] 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 NOVEMBER 1, 2021 Reported from the Committee on Oversight and Reform with an amendment [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 18, 2021] NOVEMBER 1, 2021 Referral to the Committee on House Administration extended for a period ending not later than November 30, 2021 NOVEMBER 30, 2021 Referral to the Committee on House Administration extended for a period ending not later than December 10, 2021 DECEMBER 13, 2021 Additional sponsors: Ms. NORTON, Mr. MFUME, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, and Mr. CASTRO of Texas VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2043 RH DECEMBER 13, 2021 Committee on House Administration discharged; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 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. VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2043 RH 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. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Periodically Listing Up- 4 dates to Management Act’’ or the ‘‘PLUM Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC WEBSITE ON GOVERN- 6 MENT POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITIONS. 7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 33 of 9 title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at 10 the end the following: 11 ‘‘§ 3330f. Government policy and supporting position 12 data 13 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 14 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ means— 15 ‘‘(A) any Executive agency, the United 16 States Postal Service, and the Postal Regulatory 17 Commission; 18 ‘‘(B) the Architect of the Capitol, the Gov- 19 ernment Accountability Office, the Government 20 Publishing Office, and the Library of Congress; 21 and 22 ‘‘(C) the Executive Office of the President 23 and any component within such Office (includ- 24 ing any successor component), including— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2043 RH ‘‘(i) the Council of Economic Advisors; 1 ‘‘(ii) the Council on Environmental 2 Quality; 3 ‘‘(iii) the National Security Council; 4 ‘‘(iv) the Office of the Vice President; 5 ‘‘(v) the Office of Policy Development; 6 ‘‘(vi) the Office of Administration; 7 ‘‘(vii) the Office of Management and 8 Budget; 9 ‘‘(viii) the Office of the United States 10 Trade Representative; 11 ‘‘(ix) the Office of Science and Tech- 12 nology Policy; 13 ‘‘(x) the Office of National Drug Con- 14 trol Policy; and 15 ‘‘(xi) the White House Office, including 16 the White House Office of Presidential Per- 17 sonnel. 18 ‘‘(2) COVERED WEBSITE.—The term ‘covered 19 website’ means the website established and main- 20 tained by the Director under subsection (b). 21 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means the 22 Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 23 ‘‘(4) APPOINTEE.—The term ‘appointee’— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2043 RH ‘‘(A) means an individual serving in a pol- 1 icy and supporting position; and 2 ‘‘(B) includes an individual serving in such 3 a position temporarily in an acting capacity in 4 accordance with— 5 ‘‘(i) sections 3345 through 3349d (com- 6 monly referred to as the ‘Federal Vacancies 7 Reform Act of 1998’); 8 ‘‘(ii) any other statutory provision de- 9 scribed in section 3347(a)(1); or 10 ‘‘(iii) a Presidential appointment de- 11 scribed in section 3347(a)(2). 12 ‘‘(5) POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITION.—The 13 term ‘policy and supporting position’ means— 14 ‘‘(A) a position that requires appointment 15 by the President, by and with the advice and 16 consent of the Senate; 17 ‘‘(B) a position that requires or permits ap- 18 pointment by the President or Vice President, 19 without the advice and consent of the Senate; 20 ‘‘(C) a position occupied by a limited term 21 appointee, limited emergency appointee, or non- 22 career appointee in the Senior Executive Service, 23 as defined under paragraphs (5), (6), and (7), 24 respectively, of section 3132(a); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2043 RH ‘‘(D) a position of a confidential or policy- 1 determining character under schedule C of sub- 2 part C of part 213 of title 5, Code of Federal 3 Regulations, or any successor regulation; 4 ‘‘(E) a position in the Senior Foreign Serv- 5 ice; 6 ‘‘(F) any career position at an agency that, 7 but for this section and section 2(b)(3) of the 8 PLUM Act, would be included in the publication 9 entitled ‘United States Government Policy and 10 Supporting Positions’, commonly referred to as 11 the ‘Plum Book’; and 12 ‘‘(G) any other position classified at or 13 above level GS–14 of the General Schedule (or 14 equivalent) that is excepted from the competitive 15 service by law because of the confidential or pol- 16 icy-determining nature of the position duties. 17 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE.—Not later than 1 18 year after the date of enactment of the PLUM Act, the Di- 19 rector shall establish, and thereafter maintain, a public 20 website containing the following information for the Presi- 21 dent then in office and for each subsequent President: 22 ‘‘(1) Each policy and supporting position in the 23 Federal Government, including any such position 24 that is vacant. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2043 RH ‘‘(2) The name of each individual who— 1 ‘‘(A) is serving in a position described in 2 paragraph (1); or 3 ‘‘(B) previously served in a position de- 4 scribed in such paragraph under the applicable 5 President. 6 ‘‘(3) Information on any Government-wide or 7 agency-wide limitation on the total number of posi- 8 tions in the Senior Executive Service under section 9 3133 or 3132, and for the total number of positions 10 in Schedule C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5, 11 Code of Federal Regulations, and total number of in- 12 dividuals occupying such positions. 13 ‘‘(c) CONTENTS.—With respect to any policy and sup- 14 porting position listed on the covered website, the Director 15 shall include— 16 ‘‘(1) the agency, and agency component, (includ- 17 ing the agency and bureau code used by the Office of 18 Management and Budget) in which the position is lo- 19 cated; 20 ‘‘(2) the name of the position; 21 ‘‘(3) the name of the individual occupying such 22 position (if any); 23 ‘‘(4) the geographic location of the position, in- 24 cluding the city, State or province, and country; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2043 RH ‘‘(5) the pay system under which the position is 1 paid; 2 ‘‘(6) the level, grade, or rate of pay; 3 ‘‘(7) the term or duration of the appointment (if 4 any); 5 ‘‘(8) the expiration date, in the case of a time- 6 limited appointment; 7 ‘‘(9) a unique identifier for each appointee to en- 8 able tracking such appointee across positions; 9 ‘‘(10) whether the position is vacant, and in the 10 case of a vacancy, for positions for which appoint- 11 ment is required to be made by the President by and 12 with the advice and consent of the Senate, the name 13 of the acting official, and, for other positions, the 14 name of the official performing the duties of the va- 15 cant position. 16 ‘‘(d) CURRENT DATA.—For each agency, the Director 17 shall indicate the date that the agency last updated the 18 data. 19 ‘‘(e) FORMAT.—The Director shall make the data on 20 the covered website available to the public at no cost over 21 the internet in a searchable, sortable, downloadable, and 22 machine-readable format so that the data qualifies as an 23 open Government data asset, as defined in section 3502 of 24 title 44. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2043 RH ‘‘(f) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.— 1 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Each agency 2 shall provide to the Director any information that the 3 Director determines necessary to establish and main- 4 tain the covered website, including the information 5 uploaded pursuant to paragraph (4). 6 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENCIES.—Not later 7 than 1 year after the date of enactment of the PLUM 8 Act, the Director shall issue instructions to agencies 9 with specific requirements for the provision or 10 uploading of information required under paragraph 11 (1), including— 12 ‘‘(A) specific data standards that an agency 13 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 agency 17 shall provide or upload the information, includ- 18 ing the timeframe described under paragraph 19 (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 Direc- 24 tor; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2043 RH ‘‘(B) complete, accurate, and reliable infor- 1 mation; or 2 ‘‘(C) the information during the timeframe 3 specified by the Director. 4 ‘‘(4) MONTHLY UPDATES.— 5 ‘‘(A) Not later than 90 days after the date 6 the covered website is established, and not less 7 than once during each 30 day period thereafter, 8 the head of each agency shall upload to the cov- 9 ered website updated information (if any) on— 10 ‘‘(i) the policy and supporting posi- 11 tions in the agency; 12 ‘‘(ii) the appointees occupying such po- 13 sitions in the agency; and 14 ‘‘(iii) the former appointees who served 15 in the agency under the President then in 16 office. 17 ‘‘(B) Information provided under subpara- 18 graph (A) shall supplement, not supplant, pre- 19 viously provided data under such subparagraph. 20 ‘‘(5) OPM HELP DESK.—The Director shall es- 21 tablish a central help desk, to be operated by not more 22 than one full-time employee, to assist any agency 23 with implementing this section. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2043 RH ‘‘(6) COORDINATION.—The Director may des- 1 ignate one or more Federal agencies to participate in 2 the development, establishment, operation, and sup- 3 port of the covered website. With respect to any such 4 designation, the Director may specify the scope of the 5 responsibilities of the Federal agency so designated. 6 ‘‘(7) DATA STANDARDS AND TIMING.—The Direc- 7 tor shall make available on the covered website infor- 8 mation regarding on data collection standards, qual- 9 ity assurance methods, and time frames for reporting 10 data to the Director. 11 ‘‘(8) REGULATIONS.—The Director may pre- 12 scribe regulations necessary for the administration of 13 this section. 14 ‘‘(g) RESPONSIBILITY OF AGENCIES.— 15 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Each agency 16 shall comply with the instructions and guidance 17 issued by the Director to carry out this Act, and, 18 upon request of the Director, shall provide appro- 19 priate assistance to the Director to ensure the success- 20 ful operation of the covered website in the manner 21 and within the timeframe specified by the Director 22 under subsection (f)(2). 23 ‘‘(2) ENSURING COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, AND 24 RELIABILITY.—With respect to any submission of in- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2043 RH formation described in paragraph (1), the head of an 1 agency shall include an explanation of how the agen- 2 cy ensured the information is complete, accurate, and 3 reliable, and a certification that such information is 4 complete, accurate, and reliable. 5 ‘‘(h) INFORMATION VERIFICATION.— 6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 7 semiannually, the Director, in coordination with the 8 White House Office of Presidential Personnel, shall 9 confirm that the information on the covered website 10 is complete, accurate, reliable, and up-to-date. On the 11 date of any such confirmation, the Director shall pub- 12 lish on the covered website a certification that such 13 confirmation has been made. 14 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.—In carrying out 15 paragraph (1), the Director may— 16 ‘‘(A) request additional information from 17 an agency; and 18 ‘‘(B) use any additional information pro- 19 vided to the Director or the White House Office 20 of Presidential Personnel for the purposes of 21 verification. 22 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Director shall es- 23 tablish a process under which members of the public 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:23 Dec 13, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H2043.RH H2043 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2043 RH may provide feedback regarding the accuracy of the 1 information on the covered website. 2 ‘‘(i) DATA ARCHIVING.— 3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable after 4 a tr [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]