Will Treasury Sec. Mnuchin Stop Plan To Put Harriet Tubman On $20 Bill?
The $20 bill, featuring former president Andrew Jackson. Image by wikimedia
By Aiden Pink August 31, 2017
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin refused to commit to the Obama administration’s plan to put African-American abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill when interviewed by CNBC Thursday.
“Ultimately we will be looking at this issue,” he said. “It’s not something I’m focused on at the moment.”
When pressed, he reiterated that his primary focus was stopping counterfeiters, but again refused to confirm that the plan would stay in place. “People have been on the bills for a long period of time,” he said. “And this is something we will consider. Right now, we’ve got a lot more important issues to focus on.”
The $20 currently features former president Andrew Jackson, whom President Trump greatly admires. Trump said during the 2016 presidential campaign that he preferred Tubman to be on the $2—a bill with a much more limited circulation.
The Treasury’s webpage describing the upcoming changes to the $20—as well as adding women to the backs of the $10 and $5—has been removed from the department’s website.
U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing spokeswoman Lydia Washington told CNN that they had “not received any instructions to change our present course.”
“We’re still following previous guidance,” she said. “But that does not mean that things can’t change.”
Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink.
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