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Big Block of Cheese Day Is Back, and It's Feta Than Ever

January 16, 2015 at 11:30 AM ET by Alex Wall

Summary:

For the second year in a row, we thought it'd be a gouda idea to brie-unite a certain cast of characters to help us bring back the 2nd annual Big Block of Cheese Day to the White House.

Here at the White House, we're dedicated to making President Obama's administration the most open and accessible in history. That's why, for the second year in a row, we thought it'd be a gouda idea to brie-unite a certain cast of characters to help us bring back a tradition that dates back to the days of President Andrew Jackson.

On February 22, 1837, President Jackson had a 1,400-pound block of cheese hauled into the main foyer of the White House for an open house with thousands of citizens and his staff, where they discussed the issues of the day while carving off slabs of cheddar.

This year, we aim to do even feta. On Wednesday, January 21, in fromage to President Jackson (and to President Bartlet, if you're a fan of The West Wing), we're hosting the second-annual virtual Big Block of Cheese Day, where members of the Obama administration will take to social media to answer your questions about the President's State of the Union address and the issues that are most important to you.

Log on to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Tumblr, and ask away using the hashtag #AskTheWH. We'll do our best to answer as many questions as we can.

So be sure to visit WhiteHouse.gov/SOTU to watch the State of the Union address on January 20, 2015 at 9 p.m. ET and check out the schedule of all the ways you can engage on the following day, January 21. We camembert to think you'd miss it.

All day:

Share your questions on Tumblr now using the ask box
Post your questions in the comments on Facebook with #AskTheWH
Post a photo or video with your question on Instagram with #AskTheWH

From the road with President Obama:

Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer - @Pfeiffer44
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest - @PressSec
Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett - @VJ44
Communications Director Jen Palmieri - @JPalm44

9:15 a.m. ET: Housing in America

In a live-streamed event hosted by Zillow, HUD Secretary Castro will answer questions from social media community using #HousinginAmerica. Learn more and watch live.

10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. ET: General Overview and State of the Union Themes

Director of the Office of Public Engagement Paulette Aniskoff - @PAniskoff44
Principal Deputy White House Press Secretary - @Schultz44
Associate Communications Director Stephanie Young - @Stephanie44
Deputy Communications Director Amy Brundage - @Brundage44

11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. ET: Education, Immigration, and Latino Issues

Dr. Jill Biden - @DrBiden
Director of the Domestic Policy Council Cecilia Muñoz - @Cecilia44
Executive Director of Reach Higher Eric Waldo - @ReachHigher
Director of Hispanic Media Katherine Vargas - @Vargas44
Deputy Director of Hispanic Media Antoinette Rangel - @LaCasaBlanca
Department of Education - @USEdGov

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. ET: Climate, Energy and Conservation

Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz - @ErnestMoniz
Special Assistant to the President for Energy & Climate Change - @Utech44
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell – @SecretaryJewell
Department of Interior - @Interior
Environmental Protection Agency - @EPA
Department of Energy - @Energy

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET: Economic opportunity, infrastructure, minimum wage, and women's economic agenda

Member of the Council of Economic Advisers Betsey Stevenson - @CEABetsey
Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget - @DeeseOMB
Secretary of Labor Tom Perez - @LaborSec
Department of Labor - @USDOL
Department of Transportation - @USDOT
Counselor to the President John Podesta - @Podesta44 (climate)

3:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math

Director of the Office of Science & Technology Policy Dr. John Holdren - @WhiteHouseOSTP
U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith - @USCTO
OSTP Assistant Director for Strategic Communications and Senior Policy Analyst Kristin Lee - @Lee44

4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Foreign Policy