The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the

legislative branch A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known ...

of the

United States Federal government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...

. The office produces and distributes information products and services for all three branches of the Federal Government, including U.S. passports for the Department of State as well as the official publications of the Supreme Court, the

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

, the

Executive Office of the President The Executive Office of the President (EOP) comprises the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the United States federal government. The EOP consists of several offices and agenc ...

, executive departments, and

independent agencies A regulatory agency (regulatory body, regulator) or independent agency (independent regulatory agency) is a government agency, government authority that is responsible for exercising autonomous dominion over some area of human activity in a licen ...

. An act of Congress changed the office's name to its current form in 2014.

History

The Government Printing Office was created by congressional joint resolution () on June 23, 1860. It began operations March 4, 1861, with 350 employees and reached a peak employment of 8,500 in 1972. The agency began transformation to computer technology in the 1980s; along with the gradual replacement of paper with electronic document distribution, this has led to a steady decline in the number of staff at the agency. For its entire history, the GPO has occupied the corner of North Capitol Street NW and H Street NW in the District of Columbia. The large red brick building that houses the GPO was erected in 1903 and is unusual in being one of the few large, red brick government structures in a city where most government buildings are mostly marble and granite. (The Smithsonian Castle and the Pension Building, now the National Building Museum, are other exceptions.) An additional structure was attached to its north in later years. The activities of the GPO are defined in the public printing and documents chapters of Title 44 of the United States Code. The Director (formerly the

Public Printer The Public Printer of the United States was the head of the United States Government Publishing Office (GPO). Pursuant to , this officer was nominated by the President of the United States and approved by the United States Senate. In December 2014, ...

), who serves as the head of the GPO, is appointed by the President with the

advice and consent Advice and consent is an English phrase frequently used in enacting formulae of bills and in other legal or constitutional contexts. It describes either of two situations: where a weak executive branch of a government enacts something prev ...

of the Senate. The Director selects a Superintendent of Documents. The Superintendent of Documents (SuDocs) is in charge of the dissemination of information at the GPO. This is accomplished through the

Federal Depository Library Program The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is a government program created to make U.S. federal government publications available to the public at no cost. As of April 2021, there are 1,114 depository libraries in the United States and its ter ...

(FDLP), the Cataloging and Indexing Program and the Publication Sales Program, as well as operation of the

Federal Citizen Information Center USAGov, formerly the Federal Citizen Information Center and Federal Consumer Information Center (FCIC), is a department in the United States government's General Services Administration. FCIC, founded in 1970, began as the federal government's d ...

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo () is a home rule municipality that is the county seat and the most populous municipality of Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 111,876 at the 2020 United States Census, making Pueblo the ninth most populo ...

Adelaide Hasse Adelaide Rosalie Hasse (September 13, 1868 – July 28, 1953) is listed as one of the "100 most important leaders we had in the 20th century" in the December 1999 edition of ''American Libraries''. She is credited with having developed the Superi ...

was the founder of the Superintendent of Documents classification system. The GPO first used 100 percent recycled paper for the '' Congressional Record'' and '' Federal Register'' from 1991 to 1997, under Public Printers Robert Houk and Michael DiMario. The GPO resumed using recycled paper in 2009. In March 2011, the GPO issued a new illustrated official history covering the agency's 150 years of "Keeping America Informed". With demand for print publications falling and a move underway to digital document production and preservation, the name of the GPO was officially changed to "Government Publishing Office" in a provision of an omnibus government funding bill passed by Congress in December 2014. Following signature of this legislation by President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

, the name change took place on December 17, 2014. File:Government Printing Office, restaurant - Washington, D.C..jpg, Government Printing Office, the restaurant in 1922 File:Machine shop in the Government Printing Office.jpg, Machine shop in the Government Printing Office File:Printing unemployment census questionnaires. Washington, D.C., Oct. 7. Scene at the Government Printing Office where 3,000,000 unemployment census questionnaires are being printed daily. LCCN2016872423.jpg, Scene at the Government Printing Office where 3,000,000 unemployment census questionnaires are being printed daily in 1937 File:Ready for postman. Washington, D.C., Oct. 7. After they are printed and folded for mailing at the Government Printing Office, the unemployment census questionaires are dumped into a mail LCCN2016878021.jpg, The mailroom in 1937 File:Unemployment census blanks prepared for mailing. Washington, D.C., Oct. 7. As rapidly as the presses in the Government Printing Office print the unemployment census blanks, workers trim and LCCN2016872425.jpg, As rapidly as the presses in the Government Printing Office print the unemployment census blanks, workers trim and mail.

Public Printers of the United States

By law, the Public Printer heads the GPO. The position of Public Printer traces its roots back to Benjamin Franklin and the period before the American Revolution, when he served as "publick printer", whose job was to produce official government documents for Pennsylvania and other colonies. When the agency was renamed in December 2014 the title "Public Printer" was also changed to "Director". Davita Vance-Cooks was therefore the first "Director" of the GPO. ''Public Printers'': #

Almon M. Clapp Almon Mason Clapp (September 14, 1811 – April 9, 1899) was an American printer and politician, and the first person to hold the title Public Printer of the United States, from 1876 to 1877. Biography Clapp was born in Killingly, Connecticut ...

(1876–1877) #

John D. Defrees John Dougherty Defrees (1810–1882) was an American newspaperman and politician. Political career Born in Sparta, Tennessee, Defrees moved to Ohio and worked in the law office of Thomas Corwin, who would later serve as Governor of Ohio ...

(1877–1882) # Sterling P. Rounds (1882–1886) # Thomas E. Benedict (1886–1889) # Frank W. Palmer (1889–1894) # Thomas E. Benedict (1894–1897) # Frank W. Palmer (1897–1905), O.J. Ricketts (Acting, 1905–1905) # Charles A. Stillings (1905–1908), William S. Rossiter (Acting, 1908–1908), Capt. Henry T. Brian (Acting, 1908–1908) # John S. Leech (1908–1908) # Samuel B. Donnelly (1908–1913) # Cornelius Ford (1913–1921) # George H. Carter (1921–1934) # Augustus E. Giegengack (1934–1948), John J. Deviny (Acting, 1948–1948) # John J. Deviny (1948–1953), Phillip L. Cole (Acting, 1953–1953) # Raymond Blattenberger (1953–1961), John M. Wilson (Acting, 1961–1961), Felix E. Cristofane (Acting, 1961–1961) # James L. Harrison (1961–1970) # Adolphus N. Spence (1970–1972), Harry J. Humphrey (Acting, 1972–1973), L.T. Golden (Acting Deputy, 1973–1973) # Thomas F. McCormick (1973–1977) # John J. Boyle (1977–1980), Samuel Saylor (Acting, 1980–1981) # Danford L. Sawyer, Jr. (1981–1984), William J. Barrett (Acting, 1984–1984) # Ralph E. Kennickell, Jr. (1984–1988), Joseph E. Jenifer (Acting, 1988–1990) # Robert Houk (1990–1993), Michael F. DiMario (Acting, 1993–1993) # Michael F. DiMario (1993–2002) # Bruce James (2002–2007), William H. Turri (Acting, 2007–2007) #

Robert C. Tapella Robert Charles "Bob" Tapella was the 25th Public Printer of the United States, the head of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), which produces and distributes information products for all branches of the U.S. Government. Biography He was ...

(2007–2010) #

William J. Boarman William Joseph Boarman (June 30, 1946 – August 22, 2021) was an American printer who served as the 26th Public Printer of the United States. Boarman was a labor union leader and government consultant, and served as senior vice-president of the ...

(2010–2012) # Davita Vance-Cooks (2013–2017) #

Hugh Halpern Hugh Nathanial Halpern is an American government official serving as the director of the United States Government Publishing Office. He is the 28th person to lead the agency. Early life and education A native of Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, Hal ...

(2019–present)

Published government documents

Official journals of government

The GPO contracts out much of the Federal government's printing but prints the official journals of government in-house, * Public and Private Laws * The '' Congressional Record'' * The '' Federal Register'', which is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations. * United States ''House Journal'' * ''

United States Senate Journal The United States ''Senate Journal'' is a written record of proceedings within the United States Senate in accordance with Article I, Section 5 of the U.S. Constitution. According to the Library of Congress, the ''Senate Journal'' should be s ...

'' * United States Code *

United States Statutes at Large The ''United States Statutes at Large'', commonly referred to as the ''Statutes at Large'' and abbreviated Stat., are an official record of Acts of Congress and concurrent resolutions passed by the United States Congress. Each act and resolut ...

Passports

GPO has been producing

U.S. passport United States passports are passports issued to citizens and nationals of the United States of America. They are issued exclusively by the U.S. Department of State. Besides passports (in booklet form), limited-use passport cards are issued b ...

s since the 1920s. The

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government responsible for the country's fore ...

began issuing

e-passport A biometric passport (also known as an e-passport or a digital passport) is a traditional passport that has an embedded electronic microprocessor chip which contains biometric information that can be used to authenticate the identity of the p ...

s in 2006. The e-Passport includes an electronic chip embedded in the cover that contains the same information that is printed in the passport: name, date and place of birth, sex, dates of passport issuance and expiration, passport number, and photo of the bearer. GPO produces the blank e-Passport, while the Department of State receives and adjudicates applications and issues individual passports. GPO ceased production of legacy passports in May 2007, shifting production entirely to e-passports. In March 2008, the ''

Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'' published a three-part story about the outsourcing of electronic passports to overseas companies, including one in Thailand that was subject to Chinese espionage.Bill Gertz
Outsourced passports netting govt. profits, risking national security
, ''Washington Times'', March 26, 2008

Trusted Traveler Program card

GPO designs, prints, encodes, and personalizes Trusted Traveler Program cards (

NEXUS NEXUS is a joint Canada Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection-operated Trusted Traveler and expedited border control program designed for pre-approved, low-risk travelers. Members of the program can avoid waits at border ...

SENTRI The Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection (SENTRI) provides expedited U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) processing, at the U.S.-Mexico border, of pre-approved travelers considered low-risk. Voluntarily applicants must ...

and FAST) for the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

, Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

GPO publications

* '' Cumulative Copyright Catalogs'' * '' Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion'' (1870–88) * ''

Official Records of the American Civil War The ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies in the War of the Rebellion'', commonly known as the ''Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies'' or Official Records (OR or ORs), is the most extensive collection of Americ ...

'' * ''

U.S. Congressional Serial Set The United States Congressional Serial Set began in 1817 as the official collection of reports and documents of the United States Congress. The collection was published in a " serial" fashion, hence its name. It has been described as the "nation's m ...

'' * (Document (United States. War Dept.)) (Original from Harvard University) * * (Issue 33 of Publication (United States. Adjutant-General's Office. Military Information Division) Issue 143 of Document, United States War Dept Issue 33 of Publication, United States Adjutant-General's Office) * (Issue 143 of Document (United States. War Dept.)) (Original from the New York Public Library) *(Original from Harvard University) * (Original from the University of California) * * * * GPO publishes the ''U.S. Government Publishing Office

Style Manual A style guide or manual of style is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. It is often called a style sheet, although that term also has multiple other meanings. The standards can be applied either for gene ...

''. Among the venerable series are ''

Foreign Relations of the United States The United States has formal diplomatic relations with most nations. This includes all UN member and observer states other than Bhutan, Iran, North Korea and Syria, and the UN observer State of Palestine, the last of which the U.S. does not rec ...

'' for the Department of State (since 1861), and ''

Public Papers of the Presidents The ''Public Papers of the Presidents'' contain the papers and speeches of the presidents of the United States that were issued by the White House Office of the Press Secretary. The series constitutes a special edition of the ''Federal Register''. ...

'', covering the administrations of Presidents

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

onward (except

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

, whose papers were privately printed). GPO published the '' Statistical Abstract of the United States'' for the

Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal Statistical System of the United States, U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the Americans, Ame ...

from 1878 to 2012.

Internet access to GPO publications

In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the GPO Electronic Information Access Enhancement Act, which enabled GPO to put Government information online for the first time. One year later, GPO began putting Government information online for the public to access. In 2009, GPO replaced its GPO Access website with the Federal Digital System, or FDsys. In 2016, GPO launched

GovInfo GovInfo is an official website of the United States government that houses U.S. government information. GovInfo replaces the Federal Digital System (FDsys), which in turn replaces GPOAccess, an information storage system to house electronic governme ...

, a mobile-friendly website for the public to access Government information. GovInfo makes available at no charge the Congressional Record, the Federal Register,

, the

U.S. Code In the law of the United States, the Code of Laws of the United States of America (variously abbreviated to Code of Laws of the United States, United States Code, U.S. Code, U.S.C., or USC) is the official compilation and codification of the ...

, and other materials.

GPO Police

Security and Law Enforcement for GPO facilities is provided by the Government Publishing Office Police. The force is part of the GPO's Security Services Division, and in 2003 it had 53 officers. Officers are appointed under Title 44 USC § 317 by the Public Printer (or their delegate).

Mission

Their duty is to "protect persons and property in premises and adjacent areas occupied by or under the control of the Government Printing Office".

Jurisdiction and Authority

Officers are authorized to bear and use arms in the performance of their duties, make arrests for violations of Federal and state law (and that of Washington, D.C.), and enforce the regulations of the Public Printer, including requiring the removal from GPO premises of individuals who violate such regulations. Officers have concurrent jurisdiction with the law enforcement agencies where the premises are located. GPO Police Officers are required to maintain active certification with the

Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia (MPDC), more commonly known as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the DC Police, and, colloquially, the DCPD, is the primary law enforcement agency for the District of Columb ...

as their agency holds a cooperative agreement with the city, granting GPO Police authority to enforce city laws and regulations to include Traffic Code.

References

External links

GPO website

United States House and Senate Committee Hearings and Publications in the LOUISiana Digital Library

National Federation of Advanced Information Services
{{Authority control 1861 establishments in Washington, D.C.

Government Printing Office The United States Government Publishing Office (USGPO or GPO; formerly the United States Government Printing Office) is an agency of the legislative branch of the United States Federal government. The office produces and distributes information ...

Government agencies established in 1861 Printing in the United States State publishers United States government information *