Trump administration halts Harriet Tubman $20 bill

Democrats lash out at treasury secretary as he announces delay to currency redesign

Donald Trump’s administration has delayed production on a newly-redesigned $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman, citing counterfeit issues.

The bill was scheduled to be unveiled next year during the 100-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment. Tubman, who escaped slavery and later became a prominent abolitionist who rescued other enslaved people using the Underground Railroad – a network of secret routes and safe houses in the US – was announced in 2016 as the next face of the bill.

The US treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, announced the delay on Wednesday during a hearing with the House Financial Services Committee.

“The primary reason we have looked at redesigning the currency is for counterfeiting issues,” he said in response to questioning from Democrat Ayanna Pressley. “Based upon this, the $20 bill will now not come out until 2028.”

Mr Mnuchin noted the $10 and $50 bill would still come out with their new features as planned before the new $20 bill can go into effect.

Ms Pressley shot back at Mr Mnuchin on Twitter over the delay in redesigning the bill, writing: “People other than white men built this country.”

“[Secretary Mnuchin] agrees, yet he refuses to update our #currency,” she continued.

Tubman was selected as the next face of the bill after Americans across the country took part in a 10-month public input process.

In announcing the decision to select Tubman as the next face, former treasury secretary Jack Lew said: “The decision to put Harriet Tubman on the new $20 was driven by thousands of responses we received from Americans young and old.”

He added: “I have been particularly struck by the many comments and reactions from children for whom Harriet Tubman is not just a historical figure, but a role model for leadership and participation in our democracy.”

As for Mr Trump, the president decried the decision to put Tubman on the bill during the 2016 campaign trail as “pure political correctness”, instead suggesting she should be placed on the $2 bill.