Harriet Tubman On $20 Bill: Trump Administration Abandons Plan to Put Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill
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The decade-long effort to replace Andrew Jackson’s face on the $20 bill with abolitionist Harriet Tubman is officially dead, at least for now. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed Monday that the administration has dropped the redesign plan, ending a push that began under President Barack Obama in 2016.
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When asked directly whether the Treasury Department still planned to put Tubman on the twenty, Bessent gave a brief and unambiguous answer: “We are not at present.” He offered no further explanation.
A Plan That Kept Getting Pushed Back
The Tubman bill has had a long and complicated history. Obama’s treasury secretary, Jack Lew, announced the redesign in 2016, with an original target of getting the new bill into circulation by 2020. The change was meant to honor Tubman’s legacy as one of the most consequential figures in American history, credited with leading 13 missions on the Underground Railroad and freeing roughly 70 enslaved people.
During Trump’s first term, the rollout was delayed indefinitely, with the administration citing the need to integrate updated anti-counterfeiting technology into the new design. That reasoning kept the project technically alive, even if it was clearly not a priority.
When Joe Biden took office in 2021, his White House called the Tubman bill a priority and signaled renewed momentum. The target debut date, however, had already slipped to 2030, a full decade beyond the original goal.
Where Things Stand Now
Monday’s statement goes further than any previous delay. Rather than pushing the timeline back again, Bessent indicated the project has been set aside entirely, with no replacement plan announced.
The decision is likely to draw criticism from civil rights advocates and historians who viewed the redesign as long overdue recognition for a Black woman whose courage reshaped American history. Tubman, who also served as a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War, was selected precisely because of the symbolic weight she carries in the national story.
Andrew Jackson, the seventh president and a slaveholder responsible for the forced removal of Native Americans, has appeared on the $20 bill since 1928.
What Comes Next
No alternative redesign has been proposed, and the Treasury Department has not indicated whether the current $20 bill design will remain unchanged indefinitely or whether any future administration might revive the effort.
For now, Jackson stays.
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