Upon request of the House of Representatives, the President shall appear before it while in session to answer questions but not more often than weekly and for not more than forty minutes for each appearance.

Upon request of the House of Representatives, the President shall appear before it while in session to answer questions but not more often than weekly and for not more than forty minutes for each appearance.

The British do not have a written constitution, with the effect that they hold their democracy together through a changing and evolving set of procedures relating to decision-making generally. These procedures, being acceptable to people, become customs operating to balance competing tensions that exist in the management of people. One of these customs is the right of members of Parliament to question the Prime Minister for thirty minutes each Wednesday while Parliament is in session. The Parliament has established procedures that must be followed in terms of submitting questions so that the Prime Minister knows what to expect. It is a useful tool in many respects because it humbles the Prime Minister, makes the Prime Minister continuously aware he serves at the sufferance of Parliament, and forces the Prime Minister to deal with issues that he might prefer to avoid.

In contrast, the President of the United States, being the head of a separate branch of government, has no obligation to speak to Congress except to deliver State of the Union address which has sometimes been delivered in writing. When the President does speak, it is usually at a press conference to reporters or in a meeting called by him attended by select congressmen or senators. This system tends to reinforce hubris, ignorance, and disinformation, on one hand, and diminish congressional leadership, truth, and clarity, on the other.

While it would be a radical shift for us Americans to adopt a British system entirely, a proposition many find more comforting than our own, we believe that requiring the President to answer to Congress upon its request for not more than forty minutes once a week while Congress is in session would be of great benefit to the People. For example, it has occurred to us that Congress could easily be equipped with electronic buttons wherein they could record their opinion as to whether the President was answering or avoiding the question. We all know that politicians love to skirt uncomfortable questions and talk about something else. Overall, the opportunity would be refreshing and helpful and is therefore recommended.