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The United States Government Manual
Government Publishing Office
732 North Capitol Street NW., Washington, DC 20401
202-512-1800
http://www.gpo.gov
| DIRECTOR | Hugh N. Halpern |
| Deputy Director | Patricia Collins |
| Equal Employment Opportunity Managing Director | S. Denise Hendricks |
Administration
| CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER | (vacancy) |
| CHIEF OFFICERS | |
| Acquisition | Timothy J. Matthews |
| Human Capital | Dan M. Mielke |
| Information | Wesam Musa |
Finance
| CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER | William L. Boesch, Jr. |
Legal
| GENERAL COUNSEL | Kerry L. Miller |
| Associate General Counsel—Labor Relations | Melissa Hatfield |
Operations
| DEPUTY DIRECTOR | Patricia Collins |
| MANAGING DIRECTORS | |
| Official Journals of Government | Gregory Estep, Acting |
| Plant Operations | John W. Crawford |
| Security and Intelligent Documents | Stephen G. LeBlanc |
| Customer Services | Sandra K. MacAfee |
Public Access
| SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS | Laurie Hall |
| Library Services and Content Management Managing Director | Laurie Hall |
| Publications and Information Sales Chief | Lisa L. Williams |
Security Services
| CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER | LaMont R. Vernon |
Strategy
| CHIEF OF STAFF | (vacancy) |
| CHIEF OFFICERS | |
| Technology | Richard G. Davis |
| Public Relations | Gary Somerset |
| SPECIALISTS | |
| Congressional Relations | James McCarthy |
| Employee Communications | Gary Somerset |
| Inspector General | Michael P. Leary |
The Government Publishing Office produces, procures, and disseminates printed and electronic publications of the Congress, executive departments, and Federal agencies and establishments
ESTABLISHMENT AND ORGANIZATION
On June 23, 1860, the U.S. Congress passed Joint Resolution 25 in "Relation to the Public Printing" (12 Stat. 117). It empowered the Superintendent of Public Printing to execute the printing and binding that the Senate and House of Representatives, the executive and judicial departments, and the Court of Claims authorized. It also directed the Superintendent "to contract for the erection or purchase of the necessary buildings, machinery, and materials for that purpose." The Government Printing Office opened for business on March 4, 1861, the same day that President Abraham Lincoln was sworn into office and a few weeks after the first salvo of the American Civil War.
https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llsl//llsl-c36/llsl-c36.pdfOn December 17, 2014, President Barack Obama approved Public Law 113–235, which is commonly cited as the "Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015." Section 1301 of that law (128 Stat. 2537) redesignated the Government Printing Office as the Government Publishing Office (GPO). Congress changed the name to reflect the prominent role that the GPO plays in providing access to Government information in digital formats.
https://www.congress.gov/113/plaws/publ235/PLAW-113publ235.pdfBy the advice of the Senate, the President nominates "a suitable person" as the Director; with its consent, the President appoints him or her "to take charge of and manage" the agency (44 U.S.C. 301).
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title44-section301&num=0&edition=prelimThe agency's organizational chart is available in Portable Document Format (PDF) for viewing and downloading on the "Leadership" web page.
https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/leadership-pdf-file/gpo-organizational-chart-2022-01-25.pdfSTATUTORY AUTHORITIES
Duties of the GPO are defined in 44 U.S.C.
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title44&edition=prelimACTIVITIES
Headquartered in Washington, DC, with a total employment of approximately 1,580, the Office is responsible for the production and distribution of information products and services for the three branches of the Federal Government. It is the Federal Government's primary centralized resource for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government in digital and tangible forms.
While many of the informational products, such as the "Congressional Record" and "Federal Register," are produced at the main GPO plant, most of the Government's printing is done in partnership with America's printing industry. The Office procures 75 percent of all printing orders through private sector vendors across the country, competitively buying products and services from thousands of businesses in all 50 States. The contracts cover the entire spectrum of printing and publishing services and are suitable for companies of all sizes.
The agency disseminates Federal information products through a sales program, a nationwide distribution network of Federal depository libraries, the Federal Digital System (FDsys), and the free U.S. Government information service known as govinfo, which is replacing FDsys. The public can already access hundreds of thousands of Federal Government document titles by visiting the govinfo website.
https://www.gpo.gov/who-we-are/our-agency/mission-vision-and-goalsSources of Information
Annual Reports / Budget Submissions
An annual report archives and budget submission archives are available on the "Congressional Relations" web page.
https://www.gpo.gov/who-we-are/our-agency/congressional-relationsArchived Records
The records of the GPO are referenced in the "Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States." The Guide is accessible online, and GPO records have been assigned to Record Group 149.
https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/149.htmlBen's Guide
An educational website for children and young adults, Ben's Guide has learning adventures for the apprentice level (ages 4–8), journeyperson level (ages 9–13), and master level (ages 14 and older).
https://bensguide.gpo.govBlog
"Government Book Talk" offers reviews of new and popular publications, talking about forthcoming and out-of-print books. The blog spotlights the variety of Government publications that are available and the scope of their influence.
https://govbooktalk.gpo.govBookstore
Printed copies of many documents, ranging from Supreme Court opinions to reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, may be purchased. To order in person, visit the GPO Main Bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW., Washington, DC (corner of North Capitol Street NW. and G Street), 8 a.m.–4 p.m. To order online, use the link below. To order by phone or inquire about an order, call 866-512-1800 or 202-512-1800 (Washington, DC–metropolitan area), 8 a.m.–5:30 p.m., eastern standard time. All orders require prepayment by an American Express, Discover/NOVUS, MasterCard, or VISA credit card; check or money order; or Superintendent of Documents (SOD) deposit account, which customers who purchase Government products on a recurring basis can open with the GPO. Fax, 202-512-2104.
https://bookstore.gpo.gov | Email: contactcenter@gpo.govBusiness Opportunities
GPO procurement services teams post open term contract and one-time bid solicitations online.
https://www.gpo.gov/how-to-work-with-us/vendors/contract-opportunitiesSmall purchase solicitations are posted on the "Quick Quote" website.
https://contractorconnection.gpo.gov/OpenJobs.aspxCareer Opportunities
The GPO provides other Government agencies with services for the printing, publishing, distribution, and storage of digital content. To deliver these services successfully, it relies on creative, energetic, and talented professionals representing diverse trades and administrative fields.
https://www.gpo.gov/who-we-are/careers/how-to-applyCatalog of U.S. Government Publications (CGP)
The CGP is a searchable Federal publications catalog that contains descriptive information on recent and historical publications, as well as links to some complete documents. Users may search the catalog by agency, keywords, subject, and title.
https://catalog.gpo.gov/F?RN=785806650Congressional Record
The "Congressional Record" (CR) is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the U.S. Congress. When the U.S. Congress is in session, it is published daily. The CR's publication history started in 1873 and continues to the present. The first link leads to CR bound editions from 1873 to 2016.
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/crecbCR electronic editions 1994–2022
https://www.govinfo.gov/app/collection/CRECCongressional Relations
The Office of Congressional Relations responds to congressional inquiries and requests. Phone, 202-512-1991. Fax, 202-512-1293.
https://www.gpo.gov/who-we-are/our-agency/congressional-relationsContact Information
The "Contact Us" web page is laden with hyperlinked resources. An electronic form allows various categories of online visitors to submit an inquiry to GPO staff.
https://ask.gpo.gov/s/Contact information for nationwide offices and the Laurel, MD, and Pueblo, CO, distribution centers is available on the GPO website.
https://www.gpo.gov/who-we-are/our-agency/office-locationsFederal Depository Library Program (FDLP)
Libraries that participate in the FDLP maintain a basic collection of key sources of information for supporting the general public's right to know about the essential activities and workings of the Federal Government.
https://ask.gpo.gov/s/FDLDFederal Lawmaking
An outline of the Federal lawmaking process—starting with the introduction of a bill by a Member of the Congress, continuing through its passage by both Chambers, and culminating in the President's approval—is available online in Portable Document Format (PDF).
https://www.gpo.gov/docs/default-source/media-kit-files/how-a-bill-becomes-a-Law.pdfFederal Register
Documents that the GPO recently published in the Federal Register are accessible online.
https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/government-publishing-officeGovinfo
Free public access to the full text of official publications from the three branches of the Federal Government is available at govinfo. The website also serves as a standards-compliant preservation repository, offers advanced search engine capabilities, and functions as a content management system to control digital content throughout its lifecycle.
https://www.govinfo.govHistory
The GPO opened for business several weeks before Confederate artillery opened fire on a Federal fort in Charleston Harbor. Within 18 months of the first salvo, the GPO had readied one of the most significant documents in American history for President Abraham Lincoln's signature. To learn more about the 1862 war order that acted as a precursor to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, watch the video "Lincoln and His Printers: GPO in the Civil War."
https://www.gpo.gov/who-we-are/our-agency/historyA GPO timeline and short history of making electronic Government information accessible to the public is available online.
https://www.govinfo.gov/about/historyMedia Kit
The GPO media kit contains links to access resources and to download information that may be useful for reporters and Federal agency customers. It also has a list of links providing easy access to the agency's social media sites. For additional information, contact the Public Relations team. Phone, 202-512-1957.
https://www.gpo.gov/who-we-are/news-media/media-kitNews / Press Releases
The GPO posts the latest news and maintains a news archive, from 1997 to the present, on its website. Phone, 202-512-1957. Fax, 202-512-1998.
https://www.gpo.gov/who-we-are/news-media/news-and-press-releasesOversight
The Office of the Inspector General from the GPO posts reports and data on Oversight.gov, a text-searchable repository of reports that Federal Inspectors General publish. The Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency operates and maintains the website to increase public access to independent and authoritative information on the Federal Government.
https://oversight.govSocial Media
The GPO maintains a presence on six social media sites: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Pinterest. Links to these sites are listed together in one location on the "Media Kit" web page.
https://www.gpo.gov/who-we-are/news-media/media-kitStyle Manual
An official guide to the form and style of Federal Government publishing is available online.
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016/pdf/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016.pdf