Harriet Tubman, circa 1870
HB Lindsey | Underwood Archives | Getty Images
The Biden administration will restore the push to make Harriet Tubman the face of a brand-new $20 costs, an effort that was shelved throughout previous President Donald Trump’s term.
“We’re exploring ways to speed up that effort,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki informed press reporters Monday after being asked if the brand-new administration would get the Obama-period effort.
An upgraded $20 note including Tubman, the previous servant who ended up being an icon of the abolitionist motion, was initially set to be revealed around the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which approved females the right to vote.
But Trump’s Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, revealed throughout a 2019 congressional hearing that the redesign would be postponed till 2028. Mnuchin stated at the time that the main factor for revamping a currency is to fight counterfeiting efforts.
Psaki stated Monday that the Treasury Department is “taking steps to resume efforts” to put Tubman’s image on the front of the brand-new $20 costs.
It’s crucial for the costs to “reflect the history and diversity of our country,” Psaki stated, “and Harriet Tubman’s image gracing the new $20 note would certainly reflect that.”
Tubman’s face on the costs would change that of Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president. Trump was such a huge fan of Jackson that he included a picture of Jackson in the Oval Office. Joe Biden, who took workplace last Wednesday, eliminated the painting.
Trump prior to being chosen had actually called the strategy to change Jackson with Tubman “pure political correctness.”
A spokesperson for the Treasury Department echoed Psaki’s remarks in a different declaration to CNBC. Jack Lew, the Treasury secretary under previous President Barack Obama who led the effort to put Tubman on the $20, did not right away react to an ask for remark.
Redesigning the costs is a detailed procedure that will require time and need more modifications than simply a basic face swap. For example, it took 11 years to establish the blue security strip that now embellishes the $100 costs.
Producing the brand-new $20 keeps in mind with robust anti-counterfeiting innovation and other security procedures in location will need a brand-new high-speed printing center, which is presently arranged for 2025.
Concepts for an upgraded $50 note remain in advancement.
