Biden rekindles the pressure after Trump put him aside

The Biden administration will rekindle the push to make Harriet Tubman the face of the new $ 20 bill, an effort that was shelved during former President Donald Trump’s tenure.

“We are exploring ways to accelerate this effort,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Monday after being asked whether the new administration would take over the Obama-era initiative. .

The updated $ 20 bill featuring Tubman, the former slave who became an icon of the abolitionist movement, was originally due to be unveiled around the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

But Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced during a 2019 Congressional hearing that the overhaul would be delayed until 2028. Mnuchin said at the time that the main reason for a currency overhaul was was to combat counterfeiting efforts.

Psaki said Monday that the Treasury Department “is taking steps to resume efforts” to put Tubman’s image on the front of the new $ 20 bills.

It is important that the US banknotes “reflect the history and diversity of our country,” said Psaki, “and the image of Harriet Tubman adorning the new $ 20 note would certainly reflect that.”

Tubman’s face on the bill would replace that of Andrew Jackson, the seventh US president. Trump was such a fan of Jackson that he presented a portrait of Jackson in the Oval Office. Biden, who took office last Wednesday, removed the portrait.

Trump before being elected called the plan to replace Jackson with Tubman as “pure political correctness.”

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Psaki’s remarks.

Jack Lew, former President Barack Obama’s treasury secretary who led the effort to put Tubman on the $ 20, did not immediately comment.