PLUM Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7107 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 JUNE 4, 2020 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- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7107 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; PURPOSES. 1 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 2 ‘‘Periodically Listing Updates to Management Act of 3 2020’’ or the ‘‘PLUM Act of 2020’’. 4 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are to— 5 (1) modernize the practice of publishing the 6 ‘‘Plum Book,’’ which has occurred nearly every four 7 years since 1952, and contains data on over 9,000 8 Federal civil service leadership and support positions 9 in the legislative and executive branches of the Gov- 10 ernment that may be subject to noncompetitive ap- 11 pointment; 12 (2) enhance transparency by reporting who is 13 serving in the Government and making policy deci- 14 sions; and 15 (3) improve the frequency, accuracy and acces- 16 sibility of data on the individuals filling government 17 policy and supporting positions. 18 SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF PUBLIC WEBSITE ON GOVERN- 19 MENT POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITIONS. 20 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subchapter I of chapter 33 22 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 23 at the end the following: 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7107 IH ‘‘§ 3330f. Government policy and supporting position 1 data 2 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 3 ‘‘(1) AGENCY.—The term ‘agency’ means— 4 ‘‘(A) any Executive agency, including the 5 United States Postal Service and the Postal 6 Regulatory Commission; 7 ‘‘(B) the Architect of the Capitol, the Gov- 8 ernment Accountability Office, the Government 9 Publishing Office, and the Library of Congress; 10 and 11 ‘‘(C) the Executive Office of the President 12 and any component within such Office (includ- 13 ing any successor component), including— 14 ‘‘(i) the Council of Economic Advi- 15 sors; 16 ‘‘(ii) the Council on Environmental 17 Quality; 18 ‘‘(iii) the National Security Council; 19 ‘‘(iv) the Office of the Vice President; 20 ‘‘(v) the Office of Policy Development; 21 ‘‘(vi) the Office of Administration; 22 ‘‘(vii) the Office of Management and 23 Budget; 24 ‘‘(viii) the Office of the United States 25 Trade Representative; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7107 IH ‘‘(ix) the Office of Science and Tech- 1 nology Policy; 2 ‘‘(x) the Office of National Drug Con- 3 trol Policy; and 4 ‘‘(xi) the White House Office. 5 ‘‘(2) COVERED WEBSITE.—The term ‘covered 6 website’ means the website established and main- 7 tained by the Director under subsection (b). 8 ‘‘(3) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 9 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 10 ‘‘(4) APPOINTEE.—The term ‘appointee’— 11 ‘‘(A) means an individual serving in a pol- 12 icy and supporting position; and 13 ‘‘(B) includes an individual serving in such 14 a position temporarily in an acting capacity in 15 accordance with— 16 ‘‘(i) sections 3345 through 3349d 17 (commonly referred to as the ‘Federal Va- 18 cancies Reform Act of 1998’); 19 ‘‘(ii) any other statutory provision de- 20 scribed in section 3347(a)(1); or 21 ‘‘(iii) a Presidential appointment de- 22 scribed in section 3347(a)(2). 23 ‘‘(5) POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITION.—The 24 term ‘policy and supporting position’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7107 IH ‘‘(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)(3) of the 20 PLUM Act of 2020, would be included in the 21 publication entitled ‘United States Government 22 Policy and Supporting Positions’, commonly re- 23 ferred to as the ‘Plum Book’; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7107 IH ‘‘(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.—Not later than 6 1 year after the date of enactment of the PLUM Act of 7 2020, the Director shall establish, and thereafter main- 8 tain, a public website containing the following information 9 for the President then in office and for each subsequent 10 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 de- 18 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 Di- 22 rector shall include— 23 ‘‘(1) the agency, and agency component, (in- 24 cluding the agency and bureau code used by the Of- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7107 IH fice of Management and Budget) in which the posi- 1 tion is located ; 2 ‘‘(2) the name of the position; 3 ‘‘(3) the name of the individual occupying such 4 position (if any); 5 ‘‘(4) the geographic location of the position, in- 6 cluding the city, State or province, and country; 7 ‘‘(5) the pay system under which the position is 8 paid; 9 ‘‘(6) the level, grade, or rate of pay; 10 ‘‘(7) the term or duration of the appointment 11 (if any); 12 ‘‘(8) the expiration date, in the case of a time- 13 limited appointment; 14 ‘‘(9) a unique identifier for each appointee to 15 enable tracking such appointee across positions; and 16 ‘‘(10) whether the position is vacant. 17 ‘‘(d) FORMAT.—The Director shall make the data on 18 the covered website available to the public at no cost over 19 the internet in a searchable, sortable, downloadable, and 20 machine readable format so that the data qualifies as an 21 open Government data asset, as defined in section 3502 22 of title 44. 23 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 7107 IH ‘‘(1) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Each agency 1 shall provide to the Director any information that 2 the Director determines necessary to establish and 3 maintain the covered website, including the informa- 4 tion uploaded pursuant to paragraph (4). 5 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENCIES.—Not 6 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 7 PLUM Act of 2020, the Director shall issue instruc- 8 tions to agencies with specific requirements for the 9 provision or uploading of information required under 10 paragraph (1), including— 11 ‘‘(A) specific data standards that an agen- 12 cy shall follow to ensure that the information is 13 complete, accurate, and reliable; 14 ‘‘(B) data quality assurance methods; and 15 ‘‘(C) the timeframe during which an agen- 16 cy shall provide or upload the information, in- 17 cluding the timeframe described under para- 18 graph (4). 19 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY.—The Director 20 shall identify on the covered website any agency that 21 has failed to provide— 22 ‘‘(A) the information required by the Di- 23 rector; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 7107 IH ‘‘(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 13 positions in the agency; and 14 ‘‘(iii) the former appointees who 15 served in the agency under the President 16 then in 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 22 more than one full-time employee, to assist any 23 agency with implementing this section. 24 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 7107 IH ‘‘(A) The Director shall consult with the 1 18F office (or any successor office) within the 2 General Services Administration for purposes of 3 the development, establishment, operation, and 4 support of the covered website. 5 ‘‘(B) The Director may designate one or 6 more Federal agencies to participate in the de- 7 velopment, establishment, operation, and sup- 8 port of the covered website. With respect to any 9 such designation, the Director may specify the 10 scope of the responsibilities of the Federal 11 agency so designated. 12 ‘‘(f) RESPONSIBILITY OF AGENCIES.— 13 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Each agen- 14 cy shall comply with the instructions and guidance 15 issued by the Director to carry out this Act, and, 16 upon request of the Director, shall provide appro- 17 priate assistance to the Director to ensure the suc- 18 cessful operation of the covered website in the man- 19 ner and within the timeframe specified by the Direc- 20 tor under subsection (e)(2). 21 ‘‘(2) ENSURING COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, 22 AND RELIABILITY.—With respect to any submission 23 of information described in paragraph (1), the head 24 of an agency shall include an explanation of how the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 7107 IH agency ensured the information is complete, accu- 1 rate, and reliable, and a certification that such infor- 2 mation is complete, accurate, and reliable. 3 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION VERIFICATION.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than 5 semiannually, the Director, in coordination with the 6 White House Office of Presidential Personnel, shall 7 confirm that the information on the covered website 8 is complete, accurate, reliable, and up-to-date. On 9 the date of any such confirmation, the Director shall 10 publish on the covered website a certification of that 11 such confirmation has been made. 12 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.—In carrying 13 out paragraph (1), the Director may— 14 ‘‘(A) request additional information from 15 an agency; and 16 ‘‘(B) use any additional information pro- 17 vided to the Director or the White House Office 18 of Presidential Personnel for the purposes of 19 verification. 20 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC COMMENT.—The Director shall es- 21 tablish a process under which members of the public 22 may provide feedback regarding the accuracy of the 23 information on the covered website. 24 ‘‘(h) DATA ARCHIVING.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 7107 IH ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—As soon as practicable 1 after a transitional inauguration day (as defined in 2 section 3349a), the Director, in consultation with 3 the Archivist of the United States, shall archive the 4 data that was compiled on the covered website for 5 the preceding presidential administration. 6 ‘‘(2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The Director 7 shall make the data described in paragraph (1) pub- 8 licly available over the internet— 9 ‘‘(A) on, or through a link on, the covered 10 website; 11 ‘‘(B) at no cost; and 12 ‘‘(C) in a searchable, sortable, 13 downloadable, and machine readable format.’’. 14 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec- 15 tions for subchapter I of chapter 33 of title 5, 16 United States Code, is amended by adding at the 17 end the following: 18 ‘‘3330f. Government policy and supporting position data.’’. (b) OTHER MATTERS.— 19 (1) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 20 There is authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000, 21 to remain available until expended, for developing 22 the website under section 3330f(b) of title 5, United 23 States Code, as added by subsection (a)(1). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:07 Jun 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7107.IH H7107 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 710 [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]