The Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Won't Arrive Until 2028, If It Ever Comes at All
Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Is Delayed Until Trump Leaves Office, Mnuchin Says
Some senators and representatives are not too happy about the delay, calling it unacceptable.
Harriet Tubman $20 Bill Is Delayed Until Trump Leaves Office, Mnuchin Says
Plans to unveil the Tubman bill in 2020, an Obama administration initiative, would be postponed until at least 2026, Mr. Mnuchin said, and the bill itself would not likely be in circulation until 2028.
Until then, bills with former President Andrew Jackson’s face will continue to pour out of A.T.M.s and fill Americans’ wallets.
Mr. Mnuchin, concerned that the president might create an uproar by canceling the new bill altogether, was eager to delay its redesign until Mr. Trump was out of office, some senior Treasury Department officials have said. As a presidential candidate in 2016, Mr. Trump criticized the Obama administration’s plans for the bill.
That April, Mr. Trump called the change “pure political correctness” and suggested that Tubman, whom he praised, could be added to a far less common denomination, like the $2 bill. “Andrew Jackson had a great history, and I think it’s very rough when you take somebody off the bill,” Mr. Trump said at the time.
Some senators and representatives are not too happy about the delay, calling it unacceptable.
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, recently introduced the Harriet Tubman Tribute Act and called on the Treasury Department to offer clarity on the status of the $20 bill. The legislation, if passed, would direct the department to place the likeness of Tubman on $20 Federal Reserve notes printed after Dec. 31, 2020.
“There is no excuse for the administration’s failure to make this redesign a priority,” Ms. Shaheen said. “Sadly, this delay sends an unmistakable message to women and girls, and communities of color, who were promised they’d see Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill.”
Supporters of the tribute act in the House — including Representatives Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, and John Katko, Republican of New York — also expressed frustration with the Trump administration over the delay.
“The administration’s decision to drag their feet and delay the redesign of the $20 until 2028 is unacceptable,” Mr. Cummings said in a statement. “Our currency must reflect the important role women, and especially women of color, have played in our nation’s history.”