--- title: The White House Hosts Second Virtual 'Big Block of Cheese Day' description: Spoiler alert: you have to BYOC (bring your own cheese) canonical: https://time.com/3671796/white-house-big-block-of-cheese/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-01-16T17:47:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-01T09:02:33.173Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch the West Wing Cast Announce 2nd 'Big Block of Cheese Day' og:description: "We want it to be 'feta' than last year" og:url: https://time.com/3671796/white-house-big-block-of-cheese/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1fff76463fcb737/69877a693c1639756b4513c5/154768922.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5142 og:image:height: 2892 og:image:alt: 154768922 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch the West Wing Cast Announce 2nd 'Big Block of Cheese Day' twitter:description: "We want it to be 'feta' than last year" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte1fff76463fcb737/69877a693c1639756b4513c5/154768922.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The White House 'Big Block of Cheese Day' Is Back > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c8927bb8-357c-4169-9401-7b6786be8d52&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Big Block of Cheese Day Is Back [Watch (HLS stream): Big Block of Cheese Day Is Back](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/Ov5ijFpE.m3u8) (2:08)  _Published 2015-01-16. Big Block of Cheese Day Is Back_ by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 16, 2015 5:47 PM UTC Big Block of Cheese Day Is Back by [Sarah Begley](https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Jan 16, 2015 5:47 PM UTC In the true spirit of Andrew Jackson, and with help from various cast members of _The West Wing_, [the White House has announced](http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/01/24/first-ever-virtual-big-block-cheese-day-white-house-open-questions) a second annual “Big Block of Cheese Day” on Jan. 21. The event was inspired by an open house hosted by President Jackson in 1837, for the public to mingle with cabinet members and White House staffers, where guests were served slices from a 1,400-pound block of cheese. The event was memorialized in NBC’s _The West Wing_, albeit tweaked so that the block of cheese was a constant presence in Jackson’s White House. In Obama’s version, the block of cheese is virtual: Americans are invited to interact with staffers on Twitter, Facebook and other social media, where they can get answers to their questions in real time. The session will come one day after the President’s Jan. 20 State of the Union address. Here’s hoping the event could lure _West Wing_ writer Aaron Sorkin back to Twitter. After all, several cast members of the show helped promote the event in the above video. ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] [00:05] [ NOISE ] [00:11] Please stop calling. Hey it's me. Okay, good, I thought [00:14] it was Molina again, he won't stop calling and asking [00:17] for Jay Carney. Why won't he return my calls, I thought [00:19] we were friends. Oh, no. We called because we wanted [00:23] to talk to you about Big Block of Cheese Day. Second [00:25] annual. Mary, you on? Cheese me. Who's that? Mary [00:29] McCormick. National Security Advisor? Well, you [00:34] played one on TV. Shall brie start? Good idea. What [00:39] is happening here? Is this making you blue, because [00:42] blue is also a type of cheese? Guys, I'm really busy. [00:46] Look Josh, back in the day, Andrew Jackson trucked in [00:49] a two ton block of cheese and put it in the foyer of the [00:51] White House. House. Yeah, I don't think they had [00:53] trucks. It was a big event, so the President could talk [00:56] to citizens about what was on their minds. I know this. I [00:59] watch the West Wing. Plus, we did this last year. We [01:02] think the White House should have a big block of [01:03] cheese day. But on the Internet. BYOC. Bring your own [01:07] cheese. I'm on board. We did this last year. [01:11] We want it to be feta than last year. Is that [01:16] Jenni? You feta believe it. We're [01:25] already doing the second annual big block of cheese [01:28] day. We'll have senior White House officials online [01:31] answering questions from anybody who wants to ask. [01:34] So, like Reddit? Yeah, but without the weird stuff. Hit [01:37] me with the hashtag, what's the hashtag gonna be? [01:40] We're using " Ask the W H ." Who asked that? Mr. [01:44] Sheen? You fed- a- believe it. Jesus. Alright, I [01:50] know Allison already used " fed- a" but Lindbergher [01:53] doesn't appeal to me. Hello? 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