The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has published the first iteration of its Plum Book website in an effort to increase the transparency of senior Federal government leadership.
The website comes in response to the Periodically Listing Updates to Management (PLUM) Act of 2022. The PLUM Act – which was signed into law in December 2022 as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 – requires OPM to set up and maintain a publicly available online directory of senior government leaders.
Prior to passage of that law, OPM would release a list of top Federal officials once every four years in the Plum Book. However, by the time the book was published, the information about senior administration officials was often outdated.
The new website aims to change that, by giving the public a more up-to-date look at leadership in Federal agencies. Although the website is not yet up-to-date, OPM said it plans to update it to ensure its contents are complete and accurate.
“Over the next 90 days, OPM will update the data and work with the White House Office of Presidential Personnel to confirm the completeness, accuracy, and reliability of the information provided by agencies on this website,” the website says. “A certification will be published at the end of the review period.”
OPM said that information for Federal entities not included in previous Plum Books, as well as entities that were established after the publication of the 2020 Plum Book, will be included in 2024. Additionally, the agency now plans to include salary data (for officials without a grade or level of pay), acting incumbencies, and historical incumbencies.
The website is part of OPM’s ongoing multi-year process to modernize its digital operations, as well as improve performance and customer service.
The new PLUM reporting website, which will be updated annually, will eventually replace the traditional Plum Book, which will be phased out by 2026. The full 2024 Plum Book version is expected to be ready by the end of this summer.
The public can provide feedback on the new website by emailing OPM at PLUMreporting@opm.gov.
