"For over eight decades, The United States Government Manual has been the "official handbook" of the Federal Government. This New Deal-era publication was published initially as a loose-leaf notebook, its pages held in place by three metal rings. The Government Manual is a regularly updated special edition of the Federal Register. Its contents include leadership tables and descriptions of agency activities and programs of the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of Government, as well as activities and programs of quasi-official agencies and international organizations in which the United States participates as a member."

"Every four years, just after the Presidential election, the United States Government Policy and Supporting Positions, commonly known as the Plum Book, is published, alternately, by the Senate and the House. The Plum Book is used to identify presidentially appointed positions within the Federal Government. OPM provides this data in open formats at their Plum Data site."