PLUM Act of 2020

II Calendar No. 597 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3896 [Report No. 116–302] 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 JUNE 4, 2020 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 NOVEMBER 30, 2020 Reported by Mr. JOHNSON, with amendments [Omit the part struck through and insert the part printed in italic] 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 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3896 RS 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 4 7 years since 1952, and contains data on more than 8 9,000 Federal civil service leadership and support 9 positions in the legislative and executive branches of 10 the Government that may be subject to noncompeti- 11 tive appointment; 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 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3896 RS ‘‘§ 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 that 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 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3896 RS ‘‘(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) APPOINTEE.—The term ‘appointee’— 6 ‘‘(A) means an individual serving in a pol- 7 icy and supporting position; and 8 ‘‘(B) includes an individual serving in a 9 policy and supporting position temporarily in an 10 acting capacity in accordance with— 11 ‘‘(i) sections 3345 through 3349d 12 (commonly referred to as the ‘Federal Va- 13 cancies Reform Act of 1998’); 14 ‘‘(ii) any other statutory provision de- 15 scribed in section 3347(a)(1); or 16 ‘‘(iii) a Presidential appointment de- 17 scribed in section 3347(a)(2). 18 ‘‘(3) COVERED WEBSITE.—The term ‘covered 19 website’ means the website established and main- 20 tained by the Director under subsection (b). 21 ‘‘(4) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘Director’ means 22 the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. 23 ‘‘(5) POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITION.—The 24 term ‘policy and supporting position’ means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3896 RS ‘‘(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 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 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3896 RS ‘‘(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 ‘‘(5) POLICY AND SUPPORTING POSITION.—The 6 term ‘policy and supporting position’— 7 ‘‘(A) means any position at an agency, as 8 determined by the Director, that, but for this sec- 9 tion and section 2(b)(4) of the PLUM Act of 10 2020, would be included in the publication enti- 11 tled ‘United States Government Policy and Sup- 12 porting Positions’ (commonly referred to as the 13 ‘Plum Book’); and 14 ‘‘(B) may include— 15 ‘‘(i) a position on any level of the Ex- 16 ecutive Schedule under subchapter II of 17 chapter 53, or another position with an 18 equivalent rate of pay; 19 ‘‘(ii) a general position (as defined in 20 section 3132(a)(9)) in the Senior Executive 21 service; 22 ‘‘(iii) a position in the Senior Foreign 23 Service; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3896 RS ‘‘(iv) a position of a confidential or 1 policy-determining character under schedule 2 C of subpart C of part 213 of title 5, Code 3 of Federal Regulations, or any successor 4 regulation; and 5 ‘‘(v) any other position classified at or 6 above level GS–14 of the General Schedule 7 (or equivalent) that is excepted from the 8 competitive service by law because of the 9 confidential or policy-determining nature of 10 the position duties. 11 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF WEBSITE.—The Director 12 shall establish and maintain a public website containing 13 the following information: 14 ‘‘(1) Each policy and supporting position in the 15 Federal Government, including any such position 16 that is vacant. 17 ‘‘(2) Each individual who— 18 ‘‘(A) is serving in a position described in 19 paragraph (1); or 20 ‘‘(B) previously served in a position de- 21 scribed in paragraph (1) under the President 22 then in office. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3896 RS ‘‘(c) CONTENTS.—With respect to any policy and 1 supporting position listed on the covered website, the Di- 2 rector shall include— 3 ‘‘(1) the agency and agency component (includ- 4 ing the agency and bureau code used by the Office 5 of Management and Budget) in which the position 6 is located; 7 ‘‘(2) the name of the position; 8 ‘‘(3) the name of the individual occupying the 9 position (if any); 10 ‘‘(4) the geographic location of the position, in- 11 cluding the city, State or province, and country; 12 ‘‘(5) the pay system for the position; 13 ‘‘(6) the level, grade, or rate of pay; 14 ‘‘(7) the term or duration of the appointment 15 (if any); 16 ‘‘(8) the expiration date, in the case of a time- 17 limited appointment; 18 ‘‘(9) a unique identifier for each appointee to 19 enable tracking the appointee across positions; and 20 ‘‘(10) whether the position is vacant. 21 ‘‘(d) FORMAT.—The Director shall make the data on 22 the covered website available to the public at no cost over 23 the internet in a searchable, sortable, downloadable, and 24 machine-readable format so that the data qualifies as an 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3896 RS open Government data asset, as defined in section 3502 1 of title 44. 2 ‘‘(e) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.— 3 ‘‘(1) INFORMATION REQUIRED.—Each agency 4 shall provide to the Director any information that 5 the Director determines necessary to establish and 6 maintain the covered website, including the informa- 7 tion uploaded under paragraph (4). 8 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS FOR AGENCIES.—Not 9 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 10 PLUM Act of 2020, the Director shall issue instruc- 11 tions to agencies with specific requirements for the 12 provision or uploading of information required under 13 paragraph (1), including— 14 ‘‘(A) specific data standards that an agen- 15 cy shall follow to ensure that the information is 16 complete, accurate, and reliable; 17 ‘‘(B) data quality assurance methods; and 18 ‘‘(C) the timeframe during which an agen- 19 cy shall provide or upload the information, in- 20 cluding the timeframe described under para- 21 graph (4). 22 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY.—The Director 23 shall identify on the covered website any agency that 24 has failed to provide— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3896 RS ‘‘(A) the information required by the Di- 1 rector; 2 ‘‘(B) complete, accurate, and reliable infor- 3 mation; or 4 ‘‘(C) the information during the timeframe 5 specified by the Director. 6 ‘‘(4) MONTHLY BIENNIAL UPDATES.— 7 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 8 days after the date on which the covered 9 website is established, and not less than once 10 during each 30-day period 2-year period there- 11 after, the head of each agency shall upload to 12 the covered website updated information (if 13 any) on— 14 ‘‘(i) the policy and supporting posi- 15 tions in the agency; 16 ‘‘(ii) the appointees occupying those 17 positions in the agency; and 18 ‘‘(iii) the former appointees who 19 served in policy and supporting positions in 20 the agency under the President then in of- 21 fice. 22 ‘‘(B) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—In- 23 formation provided under subparagraph (A) 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3896 RS shall supplement, not supplant, data previously 1 provided under that subparagraph. 2 ‘‘(5) OPM HELP DESK.—The Director shall es- 3 tablish a central help desk, to be operated by not 4 more than 1 full-time employee, to assist any agency 5 with implementing this section. 6 ‘‘(6) COORDINATION.— 7 ‘‘(A) 18F OFFICE.—The Director shall 8 consult with the 18F office (or any successor 9 office) within the General Services Administra- 10 tion for purposes of the development, establish- 11 ment, operation, and support of the covered 12 website. 13 ‘‘(B) DESIGNATION OF AGENCIES.—The 14 Director— 15 ‘‘(i) may designate 1 or more agencies 16 to participate in the development, estab- 17 lishment, operation, and support of the 18 covered website; and 19 ‘‘(ii) with respect to any such designa- 20 tion, may specify the scope of the respon- 21 sibilities of the agency so designated. 22 ‘‘(f) RESPONSIBILITY OF AGENCIES.— 23 ‘‘(1) PROVISION OF INFORMATION.—Each agen- 24 cy shall comply with the instructions and guidance 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3896 RS issued by the Director to carry out this section, and, 1 upon request of the Director, shall provide appro- 2 priate assistance to the Director to ensure the suc- 3 cessful operation of the covered website in the man- 4 ner and within the timeframe specified by the Direc- 5 tor under subsection (e)(2). 6 ‘‘(2) ENSURING COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, 7 AND RELIABILITY.—The head of an agency shall in- 8 clude with any submission of information described 9 in paragraph (1)— 10 ‘‘(A) an explanation of how the agency en- 11 sured the information is complete, accurate, 12 and reliable; and 13 ‘‘(B) a certification that the information is 14 complete, accurate, and reliable. 15 ‘‘(g) INFORMATION VERIFICATION.— 16 ‘‘(1) SEMIANNUAL CONFIRMATION.— 17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently 18 than semiannually, the Director, in coordination 19 with the White House Office of Presidential 20 Personnel, shall confirm that the information 21 on the covered website is complete, accurate, re- 22 liable, and up-to-date. 23 ‘‘(1) CONFIRMATION.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:36 Dec 01, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S3896.RS S3896 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3896 RS ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—On the date that is 90 1 days after the date on which the covered website 2 is established, the Director, in coordination with 3 the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, 4 shall confirm that the information on the covered 5 website is complete, accurate, reliable, and up-to- 6 date. 7 ‘‘(B) CERTIFICATION.—On the date on 8 which the Director makes a confirmation under 9 subparagraph (A), the Director shall publish on 10 the covered website a certification that the con- 11 firmation has been made. 12 ‘‘(2) AUTHORITY OF DIRECTOR.—In carrying 13 out paragraph (1), the Director may— 14 ‘‘(A) r [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]