New Public Printer Appoints Chief of Staff

Robert C. Tapella is now officially the nation’s 25th Public Printer. Five months after he was nominated in May, the U.S. Senate has confirmed Tapella as Public Printer, and President Bush has signed the commission. Tapella will lead more than 2,200 employees at the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). He succeeds Bruce James in the role.

Tapella has been involved in GPO’s transformation into a profitable 21st Century digital operation during the last five years, first as Deputy Chief of Staff and then as Chief of Staff.

A 1991 graduate in graphic communications and printing management from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, CA, one of the Nation’s leading schools in printing and graphic communications, Tapella comes to the GPO following several assignments on Capitol Hill.

From 1996 to 2000, he served as professional staff on the House of Representatives Committee on House Oversight, where he supervised the Office of Member Services; Chief of Staff to Rep. Bill Redmond (R-NM); and Special Assistant to the Clerk of the House of Representatives, where he worked on strategic planning for re-engineering the information technology infrastructure of the House legislative process and developed plans for major information technology initiatives for the Office of the Clerk. Tapella gained his first legislative office experience from 1986 to 1993, when he worked as district representative for Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA).

The Public Printer serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the GPO, whose core mission is Keeping America Informed. The agency provides printing, publishing, and digital media services to the three branches of the government. It is a near billion dollar government agency.

Tapella has appointed Maria S. Lefevre as chief of staff for the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO). The chief of staff is the principal advisor to the Public Printer on overall management of the agency. Lefevre will be responsible for formulation and coordination of all internal and external agency policies.

Lefevre arrived at GPO in 2004 as deputy chief of staff. Among her duties during the last three years have been overseeing the day-to-day operations, budgets and oversight of executive offices. Lefevre also coordinates Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) requests, along with other agency publications and communications with the U.S. Congress. The JCP provides oversight of GPO operations.

Before coming to GPO, Lefevre worked on Capitol Hill for nearly a decade. She served as staff director for the JCP, policy director for the House Administration Committee and legislative director for a member of Congress. Lefevre managed legislation on the House floor and formulated policy issues for the JCP chairman. A native of southeast Ohio, Lefevre holds a Bachelor of Science in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland.