United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions
United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions (more commonly referred to as the Plum Book) is a publication of the Senate's Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform. A new edition is published every four years, just after each presidential election, and lists over 7,000 federal civil service leadership and support positions in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government that may be subject to noncompetitive appointment nationwide, commonly called political appointments. The Plum Book covers positions such as agency heads and their immediate subordinates, policy executives and advisors, and aides who report to these officials.
History
The Plum Book originated in 1952 during the Eisenhower administration to identify presidentially appointed positions within the federal government. For twenty years, the Democratic Party had controlled the federal government. When President Eisenhower took office, the Republican Party requested a list of government positions that the new president could fill. The next edition of the Plum Book appeared in 1960 and has since been published every four years, just after a presidential election.
Older editions of the Plum Book are held by any federal depository library.[1] The Government Printing Office (now the United States Government Publishing Office) began to make the Plum Book available as an app for the first time in December 2012.[2] The 2020 edition was published on December 1, 2020.[3]
References
- Somerset, Gary. "PLUM BOOK AVAILABLE AT GPO" (PDF) (No. 08-31). Government Printing Office. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- Somerset, Gary. "GPO RELEASES PLUM BOOK: Available for first time as an App" (PDF) (No. 12-51). Government Printing Office. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
- https://www.govinfo.gov/collection/plum-book?path=/gpo/United%20States%20Government%20Policy%20and%20Supporting%20Positions%20(Plum%20Book)/2020