Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, on Thursday introduced a bill that seeks to require President Donald Trump to restore public telephone access to the White House.
A public comment line previously open at (202) 456-1111 has closed under the Trump Administration and refers people to make a comment on the White House’s website at https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact or on Facebook Messenger, although there is currently no way to leave a message on the White House’s Facebook page.
The White House switchboard at (202) 456-1414 is taking calls but doesn’t record comments, according to Speier’s office.
“The American people deserve to be able to communicate freely with their president,” Speier said in a statement. “Unfortunately, while this president is certainly committed to his Twitter account he must also be willing to hear from his constituents the old fashioned way.”
Speier’s bill, the Phone the White House Act, would call for the elimination of funding for the Executive Office of the President for any period of time in which a public comment phone system is not in place.
“By failing to restart the White House’s public comment phone line, he has effectively silenced the more than 30 million Americans who are not on the Internet and who have every right to register their views with the White House in a timely fashion,” she said.
“The president needs to recognize that his job also includes listening to all Americans, not just the echo chamber in the White House,” Speier said.
The bill has 15 co-sponsors, including fellow Bay Area Rep. John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, but is highly unlikely to pass given the Republican majority in both houses of Congress.
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