White House to Reopen for Public Tours on March 7

The White House will reopen for public tours on March 7, following an unusually long closure at the start of Donald Trump’s presidency.

“I am excited to reopen the White House to the hundreds of thousands of visitors who come each year,” First Lady Melania Trump said in a statement on Tuesday. “The White House is a remarkable and historic site and we are excited to share its beauty and history. I am committed to the restoration and preservation of our Nation’s most recognizable landmark.”

The announcement comes after at least two dozen lawmakers—who handle constituent requests for White House tours—signed a letter urging the tour office to reopen, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

“Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama all appointed a White House Visitors Office Director before being sworn in, and had reopened the White House to the public at this point,” the letter said, according to the Post.

Republican Sen. Charles Grassley on Sunday made a personal request about when the White House would open. “Mrs G wants to know,” he said in a tweet.

The First Lady’s chief of staff, Lindsay Reynolds, said earlier this month that the tour office would reopen “after a traditional temporary closure during the transition period.”

“In the meantime, we are using this time to tend to routine maintenance, updates and renovations along the tour route to ensure the guest experience is top notch,” Reynolds said in a Feb. 1 statement.