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Who answers the White House phone?

With the switchboards overloaded at the White House, The Week took a closer look at the phone system.

Here are some interesting tidbits from their six "burning questions" about the phone:

1. Who answers when I call the White House?

Depends on which number you call. The public comment line (202-456-1111) is manned by volunteers recruited by the current administration. The White House switchboard (202-456-1414) is manned by professional White House operators. Only privileged parties are privy to the "secret number" that reaches the president directly (see below).

2. How often are the lines jammed by protest calls?

It tends to happen when controversial legislation is up for a vote; both the 2008 Wall Street bailout and 2007 immigration overhaul bill provoked more calls than the system could handle. Reaction to certain cataclysmic events, such as John F. Kennedy's assassination, have also overloaded the presidential phone system.

-- Ryan Teague Beckwith, Congress.org

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