Senate confirms historic GPO nominee

The Senate has confirmed Davita Vance-Cooks as head of the Government Printing Office, making her both the first African-American and first woman to hold the title of public printer.

Vance-Cooks has been the acting public printer since January 2012 and has more than 30 years of public- and private-sector experience. She has been at GPO since 2004, holding positions including chief of staff, managing director of publications and deputy managing director of customer services.

 Vance-Cooks' confirmation comes amid GPO budget cuts and the agency's move towards increased digitization.

"I look forward to working with everyone who shares a stake in our historic mission of keeping America informed as we continue transitioning our products and services to meet the needs of Congress, federal agencies, and the public in this digital age," she said.  

President  Obama nominated Vance-Cooks in May and her confirmation was the quickest Senate action on a public printer nominee in almost 20 years. The GPO, which opened in 1861, is responsible for producing, procuring, cataloging, indexing, authenticating, disseminating, and preserving the official information products of the U.S. Government. This includes the production and distribution of passports, and of official publications of Congress, the White House and other federal agencies.