President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have not delayed roll-out of the Harriet Tubman $20 bill, say Obama-era officials.
Multiple government officials appointed by President Barack Obama, including the current and former director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP), have confirmed that Trump has not delayed the roll-out of a $20 bill featuring Tubman’s face, according to The Washington Post.
While there were originally announcements that the Tubman $20 bill would come out in 2020, “Those announcements were not grounded in reality,” former BEP director Larry Felix told The Washington Post. “The U.S. had not at the time acquired the security features to redesign and protect the notes.”
A confidential 2013 report by the Advanced Counterfeit Deterrence committee corroborates Felix, postulating that it would take until 2030 to put the Tubman $20 into circulation with the proper counterfeiting security measures, according to The Post.
“Even the most optimistic scenarios,” would not put Tubman’s face on a bill until after the end of Trump’s second term, should he win one, explains Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin.
A number of other current and former officials appointed under the Obama administration have anonymously confirmed to The Post that creating new currency takes a long time, and that Trump has not impeded the process.
“The suggestion that the process is being delayed is completely erroneous,” Monica Crowley, Treasury Department Spokeswoman told The Post.
