One of the Obama-Biden era’s most celebrated symbolic projects appears to have officially run out of steam.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed this week that the federal government is not currently moving forward with plans to place abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the front of the $20 bill, effectively shelving a proposal that has bounced between Democratic and Republican administrations for more than a decade.
Asked by Spectrum News about the status of the long-discussed redesign, Bessent gave a short and direct answer.
“Not at present.”
With those three words, the effort to replace President Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill appears frozen indefinitely.
The proposal first emerged in 2016 under President Barack Obama, when then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced plans to place Tubman on the currency. The move was widely celebrated by activists, who argued that America’s paper money should better reflect the nation’s diversity and history.
Supporters envisioned Tubman becoming the first Black woman to appear on U.S. paper currency.
Critics, however, saw the effort as part of a broader trend toward symbolic politics—changing images, renaming buildings and rewriting historical presentations while avoiding the tougher work of solving actual national problems.
The project stalled during President Donald Trump’s first administration. It was then revived under former President Joe Biden, whose White House openly promoted the redesign as part of a broader effort to advance diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives throughout the federal government.
In 2021, then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced that the administration was taking steps to resume the project.
“The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new $20 notes,” Psaki said at the time.
She added that American currency should “reflect the history and diversity of our country.”
But despite years of discussion, studies, planning and political messaging, the redesigned bill never materialized.
Bessent suggested practical realities played a major role. “For us to change an existing bill, whether it’s $1 through $100, takes many years in advance,” he explained during his Spectrum interview.
The Treasury secretary also addressed recent discussion surrounding proposals to create a commemorative $250 bill recognizing America’s upcoming 250th anniversary, noting that current law prohibits living individuals from appearing on U.S. currency and that any such proposal would require congressional action.
Tubman remains one of the most admired figures in American history. Born into slavery, she escaped bondage and repeatedly risked her life returning to the South to help free others through the Underground Railroad. Historians credit her with helping guide dozens of enslaved Americans to freedom and later serving the Union cause during the Civil War.
Critics of the redesign proposal have argued that the debate was never really about Tubman herself but about whether changing the face on a twenty-dollar bill should be a political priority.
Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen expressed disappointment over the Treasury decision. “Commemorating Harriet Tubman would have been the perfect way to honor the women who helped build this country and bravely stood up for freedom and equality throughout our nation’s remarkable 250-year history,” Shaheen said.
For now, Andrew Jackson will remain on the $20 bill, just as he has for nearly a century. And one of Washington’s longest-running symbolic battles appears headed back into storage.
This story is a perfect example of how Washington thinks. The country is worried about inflation, debt, border security, energy prices, crime and whether the federal government can perform basic functions without tripping over its own shoelaces.
Washington’s answer? “Let’s spend a decade arguing about whose picture goes on a twenty-dollar bill.”
Now before the usual suspects start hyperventilating, let’s make something crystal clear.
Harriet Tubman was an American hero. A genuine hero. Not the kind of hero modern politicians manufacture on social media every other Tuesday. An actual hero who risked her life repeatedly to free enslaved Americans and advance the cause of liberty. The question was never whether Tubman deserves honor. The question is why every discussion in modern politics eventually gets filtered through the lens of identity politics.
Nobody is taking anything away from Harriet Tubman. Her place in American history is secure. It doesn’t depend on whether her portrait appears next to a serial number and a Treasury seal.
If anything, reducing every historical figure to a branding exercise for whatever political movement happens to be in power at the moment does a disservice to the people being honored.
