[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5133 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
118th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5133
To establish a tracker for Senate-confirmed executive branch positions.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
September 19, 2024
Mr. Peters (for himself and Mr. Lankford) introduced the following
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland
Security and Governmental Affairs
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a tracker for Senate-confirmed executive branch positions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Improving Senate Confirmation and
Vacancy Oversight Act of 2024''.
SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF TRACKER FOR SENATE-CONFIRMED EXECUTIVE BRANCH
POSITIONS.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term
``appropriate congressional committees'' means--
(A) the Committee on Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs of the Senate; and
(B) the Committee on Oversight and Accountability
of the House of Representatives.
(2) Covered pas position.--The term ``covered PAS
position'' means a policy and supporting position (as defined
in section 3330f of title 5, United States Code) in an
executive branch agency for which appointment is made by the
President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(3) Director of opm.--The term ``Director of OPM'' means
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management.
(4) Executive branch agency.--The term ``executive branch
agency'' means an agency described in subparagraph (A) or (C)
of section 3330f(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code.
(5) PAS tracker.--The term ``PAS Tracker'' means the Senate
Confirmed Position Tracker established under subsection (b)(1).
(6) PLUM reporting website.--The term ``PLUM reporting
website'' means the website established and maintained under
section 3330f(b) of title 5, United States Code.
(b) Establishment of Tracker.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General of the United
States, in consultation with the Librarian of Congress, the
Director of OPM, and the Director of the Congressional Research
Service, shall publish on the public-facing website of the
Government Accountability Office a new interface or webpage, to
be known as the ``Senate Confirmed Position Tracker'', that
displays data, which shall be updated on not less than a weekly
basis, tracking covered PAS positions, including the
individuals occupying covered PAS positions and the status,
within the Senate advice and consent process, of individuals
nominated for covered PAS positions.
(2) Design.--The Comptroller General shall ensure that the
PAS Tracker, in addition to tracking each covered PAS position
throughout the Senate advice and consent process, publishes
information, and displays the information through graphics and
charts, on trends and analyses of all covered PAS positions,
including--
(A) data and trends broken down by positions with
the same title, including the percentage of covered PAS
positions that--
(i) are occupied by an official confirmed
by the Senate;
(ii) are occupied by an acting official; or
(iii) are not occupied by any official;
(B) data and trends broken down by Senate
committees of jurisdiction, including the percentage of
covered PAS positions that--
(i) are occupied by an official confirmed
by the Senate;
(ii) are occupied by an acting official; or
(iii) are not occupied by any official;
(C) data and trends broken down by executive branch
agency and components thereof, including the percentage
of covered PAS positions that--
(i) are occupied by an official confirmed
by the Senate;
(ii) are occupied by an acting official; or
(iii) are not occupied by any official; and
(D) the percentage of all covered PAS positions
that--
(i) are occupied by an official confirmed
by the Senate;
(ii) are occupied by an acting official; or
(iii) are not occupied by any official.
(3) Consistent information.--
(A) In general.--In establishing and maintaining
the PAS tracker, the Comptroller General shall--
(i) collect data from all executive branch
agencies and components thereof; and
(ii) assess and utilize data available to
the Comptroller General on covered PAS
positions, including information provided by
the Library of Congress and the Office of
Personnel Management.
(B) Relation to plum reporting website.--The
Comptroller General and the Director of OPM shall work
in coordination to ensure that--
(i) all relevant information displayed on
both the PLUM reporting website and the PAS
Tracker is consistent and accurate; and
(ii) there is a process to both regularly
review data across the 2 sources described in
clause (i) and address any discrepancies in a
timely fashion.
(4) Data collected and published.--
(A) Coordination; data agreements.--To the maximum
extent practicable, the Comptroller General shall
coordinate with the Librarian of Congress, the Director
of OPM, and the Secretary of the Senate, and enter into
relevant data agreements with the Librarian of Congress
and the Director of OPM, to enable the Comptroller
General to carry out paragraph (3) and subparagraph (C)
of this paragraph and to facilitate the Secretary's
implementation of subparagraph (B)(ii) of this
paragraph.
(B) Information on new pas positions.--
(i) Reporting by committees.--Each
committee of the Senate or the House of
Representatives shall report to the Secretary
of the Senate the titles and number of new
covered PAS positions that would be created
under--
(I) any legislation that is ordered
reported by the committee, not later
than 30 days after the legislation is
ordered reported; or
(II) any amendment on the floor of
the Senate or the House of
Representatives, respectively, to
legislation that is within the
jurisdiction of the committee, not
later than 30 days after the amendment
is agreed to.
(ii) Reporting by secretary of the
senate.--Annually, the Secretary of the Senate
shall issue a report to Congress and the
Comptroller General containing the titles and
number of covered PAS positions that were
created under legislation that was enacted into
law during the year covered by the report.
(C) Data.--The Comptroller General shall collect,
and publish through the PAS Tracker in a searchable,
sortable, downloadable, machine-readable format, the
following data:
(i) Each covered PAS position, including--
(I) any covered PAS position that
has never been occupied or is not
occupied as of the date of publication
by an official confirmed by the Senate,
including a covered PAS position
identified under subparagraph (B)(ii);
and
(II) any covered PAS position on a
board or commission that is
administratively inactive, as indicated
in the Federal Advisory Committee Act
database.
(ii) For each covered PAS position, the
following information:
(I) All the information for the
covered PAS position that is included
on the PLUM reporting website pursuant
to subsections (b) and (c) of section
3330f of title 5, United States Code.
(II) For any covered PAS position
that is not occupied by an official
confirmed by the Senate or an acting
official--
(aa) the dates on which the
acting official who most
recently served in the covered
PAS position, if any, began
serving and ceased serving,
respectively, in the covered
PAS position;
(bb) the date on which an
individual was most recently
appointed to the covered PAS
position;
(cc) the date on which a
nomination for the covered PAS
position was most recently
submitted to the Senate; and
(dd) whether any statute
specific to the executive
branch agency governs the
filling of the position.
(III) Each key Senate advice and
consent process milestone collected on
congress.gov, including the date of the
nomination for the covered PAS
position, the date of the nomination
hearing, the date of the committee
vote, the date of each vote of the
Senate, and the date of final
confirmation.
(IV) The dates on which the
official who most recently served in
the covered PAS position began serving
and ceased serving, respectively, in
the covered PAS position, including in
an acting capacity.
(V) In the case of an acting
official currently serving in the
covered PAS position, if no nomination
has extended the time limit under
section 3346 of title 5, United States
Code, and to the maximum extent
practicable, the number of days for
which the official may continue to
serve in an acting capacity before
violating such section 3346.
(D) Facilitation of collection and publication of
data.--
(i) FACA data.--In order to assist the
Comptroller General in carrying out
subparagraph (C)(i)(II), the Committee
Management Secretariat of the General Services
Administration shall provide information
regarding any board or commission that is
administratively inactive to the Comptroller
General, the Director of OPM, and Congress not
less than twice each year.
(ii) Agency-specific statutes governing
filling vacant positions.--The Comptroller
General shall carry out subparagraph
(C)(ii)(II)(dd) in coordination with the
applicable executive branch agency and the
Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of
Justice.
(5) Coordination with opm regarding acting officials.--In
the case of an individual serving in a covered PAS position in
an acting capacity, the Comptroller General shall coordinate
with the Director of OPM to align, and resolve any
discrepancies between--
(A) information reported to the Office of Personnel
Management about the individual; and
(B) the information posted on the PAS Tracker about
the individual under paragraph (4)(C)(ii)(V).
(6) Agency reports regarding positions without senate-
confirmed officials.--For purposes of paragraph (4)(C)(ii)(V),
in the case of any covered PAS position that is not occupied by
an official confirmed by the Senate, the executive branch
agency shall report to the Comptroller General not later than 5
days after the date on which an individual is designated to
serve in the position in an acting capacity.
(7) Agency reports regarding start and end dates.--Not
later than 10 days after the date on which an official begins
serving or ceases serving in a covered PAS position, including
in an acting capacity, the executive branch agency shall report
that start date or end date, respectively, to the Comptroller
General and the Director of OPM.
(c) Position Unique Identifiers.--
(1) Plan and process for implementation.--Not later than 1
year after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller
General, in coordination with the Director of OPM, the
Librarian of Congress, and the Secretary of the Senate, shall
establish a plan and process for implementation of a unique
identifier for each covered PAS position that enables public-
facing resources, including the PAS Tracker, the PLUM reporting
website, and congress.gov, to have consistent and accurate
information on covered PAS positions.
(2) Congressional briefing.--No later than 30 days after
establishing the plan and process for implementation under
paragraph (1), the Comptroller General, the Director of OPM,
the Librarian of Congress, and the Secretary of the Senate
shall brief the appropriate congressional committees on the
plan and process for implementation.
(d) Reports.--
(1) Agency reports of senate-confirmed positions.--In
addition to updating the PAS Tracker, each year, on a date
determined by the Comptroller General in coordination with the
Director of OPM and taking into consideration the Director's
schedule for collecting data for the PLUM reporting website,
the head of each executive branch agency shall submit to the
Comptroller General and the Director of OPM the following
information:
(A) A list of each covered PAS position in the
executive branch agency, including identification of
any change to the title of any such covered PAS
position, along with the total number of covered PAS
positions in the executive branch agency.
(B) Each covered PAS position newly established in
the executive branch agency by statute since the
previous submission of information under this
paragraph.
(C) The number of covered PAS positions that each
covered PAS position in the executive branch agency
reports to.
(2) GAO reports to congress on noncompliant agencies.--
Annually, the Comptroller General shall submit to the
appropriate congressional committees a report that indicates
any executive branch agency that has not provided information,
or has provided incomplete information, under paragraph (1).
(3) Biennial gao reports.--
(A) In general.--Not less frequently than once
every 2 years for 10 years, the Comptroller General
shall review the implementation of this section and
publish and submit to Congress a report containing the
findings of the review.
(B) Contents.--The Comptroller General shall
include in each review under subparagraph (A)--
(i) a review of the accuracy and timeliness
of information provided in the PAS Tracker;
(ii) an analysis of all covered PAS
positions, including--
(I) an indication of any covered
PAS position that is on an inactive
board or commission within an executive