Biden revives push to put Harriet Tubman on $20 bill. Why the delay?
President Joe Biden’s administration will “speed up” efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Monday that the Treasury Department is resuming efforts to replace the portrait of former President Andrew Jackson, which is currently cast on the bill’s front, with one of Tubman — a process that was stalled under former President Donald Trump’s administration.
Psaki said the administration is “exploring ways to speed up that effort,” but she said specifics on a timeline would have to come from the Treasury Department.
Deciding to put Tubman on the bill
The decision to replace the portrait of Jackson, who was a slave owner and who was instrumental in the forced relocation of indigenous people known as the Trail of Tears, came under former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2016.
Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew selected Tubman, an abolitionist famous for her leadership in the Underground Railroad, to replace the seventh president on the face of the bill.
The decision came after months of seeking input from the public, CNBC reports.
“The decision to put Harriet Tubman on the new $20 was driven by thousands of responses we received from Americans young and old,” Lew said in 2016, according to CNBC. “I have been particularly struck by the many comments and reactions from children for whom Harriet Tubman is not just a historical figure, but a role model for leadership and participation in our democracy.”
The plan was to unveil the redesigned bill in 2020 on the anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote, The Associated Press reports.
Why the delay?
Trump’s administration, however, slow-walked the change.
Before he was elected, Trump derided the plan as “pure political correctness” and proposed putting Tubman’s portrait on the $2 bill instead. He was a fan of Jackson’s and frequently praised him, NBC News reports.
Then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin halted work on the bill’s redesign, citing a need to add new security features to the currency, which he said was more urgent, The New York Times reports. Under the new timelines, Mnuchin said the redesigned bills could not be put in circulation until 2028.
The delay was criticized by some Democrats in Congress, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley from Massachusetts, who tweeted at the time that “this country was built by bold leaders and table shakers like Harriet Tubman & she has earned to right to be represented on our money.”
It also led to an inquiry by the Treasury inspector general into whether the process faced “improper political interference,” the Times reports. The inquiry found no wrongdoing at the time.
Psaki said during the briefing Monday that it’s important the country’s money reflect its “history and diversity”
“Harriet Tubman’s image gracing the new $20 note certainly would reflect that,” she said.
This story was originally published January 25, 2021 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Biden revives push to put Harriet Tubman on $20 bill. Why the delay?."
