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Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Casts Doubt On Putting Harriet Tubman On 20 Bill

WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he won't commit to an Obama administration decision to replace Andrew Jackson with African-American abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill During an interview with CNBC on Aug. 30, Mnuchin said: "People have been on the bills for a long period of time. This is something we'll consider. Right now, we have a lot more important issues to focus on," which primarily, he said, is to thwart counterfeiting. Jacob J. Lew, Mnuchin's predecessor, said last y...

September 2, 2017

WASHINGTON -- Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he won't commit to an Obama administration decision to replace Andrew Jackson with African-American abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill

During an interview with CNBC on Aug. 30, Mnuchin said: "People have been on the bills for a long period of time. This is something we'll consider. Right now, we have a lot more important issues to focus on," which primarily, he said, is to thwart counterfeiting.

Jacob J. Lew, Mnuchin's predecessor, said last year that Tubman would be the face of a new $20 bill to be unveiled in 2020, which marks the 100th anniversary of the year women were granted the right to vote. | SEE STORY

Trump was a presidential candidate at the time and described the plan as "pure political correctness."

Jackson, a slave owner, was president from 1829 to 1837. Tubman, who would be the first African American pictured on the face of U.S. paper currency, was born to and rescued dozens of slaves, using a network of safe houses known as the Underground Railroad.

The planned change was one of a number of Obama administration plans to redesign banknotes to both reduce counterfeiting and reflect the diversity of modern America.