Harriet Tubman will not grace the front of the $20 bill until 2028, Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Wednesday.
Tubman, known as the female Moses, is one of the first Black women who risked her life as a slave to free others through the Underground Railroad. Tubman’s efforts as an activist and abolitionist were honored nearly two years ago when it was decided she would be replacing Andrew Jackson as the new face of the $20 bill.
The Obama Administration initiative specified the bill would be released in 2020 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. But Mnuchin says the bill “most likely” won’t be printed until 2028.
“It’s not a decision that is likely to come until way past my term, even if I serve the second term for the president,” Mnuchin told the House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday. “So I’m not focused on that for the moment.”
Mnuchin said a redesign of the bill’s security feature will come out in 2020. However, the bill itself won’t be revealed for eight years. He did not explain why the bill wouldn’t be produced at this time. Mnuchin’s announcement sparked many opinions, including from Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. Pressley took to Twitter and pointed out Mnuchin’s questionable decision. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
“People other than white men built this county. And Sec Mnuchin agrees, yet he refuses to update our #currency.”
