Today, the White House responded to 20 outstanding petitions on our We the People platform.

Nearly 2.5 million people who had petitioned us to take action on something heard back from us today.

We want to make sure those responses aren't the final page -- but rather, the start of an ongoing conversation.

We're starting that conversation on Twitter -- where folks across the White House are taking your questions all day long (I'll be personally taking your questions on@Goldman44 at 3:30 p.m. Eastern). Follow @WeThePeople, and join in using hashtag #WeThePeople.

Moving forward, we're going to be changing a few things about We the People. Here's what that will look like:

1. First, from now on, if a petition meets the signature goal within a designated period of time, we will aim to respond to it -- with an update or policy statement -- within 60 days wherever possible. You can read about the details of our policy in the We the People Terms of Participation.
2. Second, other outside petitions platforms are starting to tap into the We the People platform. We're excited to announce today that Change.org is choosing to integrate with the We the People platform, meaning the future signatures of its 100 million users will count toward the threshold for getting an official response from the Administration. We're also opening up the code behind petitions.whitehouse.gov on Drupal.org and GitHub, which empowers other governments and outside organizations to create their own versions of this platform to engage their own citizens and constituencies.
3. Third, and most importantly, the process of hearing from us about your petition is going to look a little different. We've assembled a team of people responsible for taking your questions and requests and bringing them to the right people -- whether within the White House or in an agency within the Administration -- who may be in a position to say something about your request.

You can get some more details about today's release and announcements -- and learn a little more about We the People -- here.

But in the meantime, we want to hear from you:

Check out We the People -- where you can create or add your name to a petition.

Then, let us know what you think of the platform here -- or tweet your feedback to@Goldman44 or @WeThePeople.

We're really excited about the changes we're making -- and we'll be in touch with more soon.

-- Jason

Jason Goldman
Chief Digital Officer
The White House
@Goldman44

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