Secretary of Treasury Steven Mnuchin wouldn’t commit Thursday to the proposed addition of Harriet Tubman on the $20 note.
Former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced in 2016 that noted abolitionist Tubman would replace former President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill. Mnuchin was asked on CNBC if he supports this idea, and he said that Department of Treasury will eventually look at “this issue,” but “it’s not something that I’m focused on at the moment.”
“But the number one issue why we change the currency is to stop counterfeiting. So the issues of why we change will be primarily related to what we need to do for security purposes and I’ve received classified briefings on that,” Mnuchin added. “That’s what I’m focused on at the moment.”
President Trump was asked about the bill change when he was a candidate, and he said that “Andrew Jackson had a great history. I think it’s very rough when you take somebody off the bill.”
The president regards Jackson fondly and hung up a portrait of the former president in the Oval Office. Trump added in the April 2016 interview that a bill shouldn’t be changed out of “political correctness,” and that “maybe” Tubman could go on the $2 note, where Thomas Jefferson currently resides.
The Daily Caller asked the Bureau of Engraving and Printing about the $20 redesign in February, and a spokeswoman said that the new $20 note will be released after 2026.
“The redesign of the next currency series is still in the early stages and the Secretary of the Treasury approves all final currency designs,” Lydia Washington, a spokeswoman for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, told TheDC. “