United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions
United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions is a publication of the Senate's Committee on Governmental Affairs and the House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform. Published after each Presidential election, the register lists over 7000 federal civil service leadership and support positions in the legislative branch and the executive branch 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 is used to identify presidentially appointed positions within the federal government. The list originated in 1952 during the Eisenhower administration. For twenty years, the Democratic Party had controlled the federal government. When President Dwight 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 the presidential election.
Older editions of the Plum Book are held by any federal depository library. The Government Printing Office began to make the Plum Book availanble as an app for the first time in December 2012.
