Representative Mannion Calls On Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent To Place Harriet Tubman On The $20 Bill

August 17, 2026 Press Release SYRACUSE, NY — Representative John W. Mannion (NY-22) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent calling on the Department to resume the effort to place Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill. The bipartisan campaign to place Tubman on U.S. currency began in 2015. Last month, Secretary Bessent said that the Department was not presently planning to move forward with the plan. Representative Mannion, joined by Congressional Black Caucus Chair Emerita Representative Joyce Beatty (OH-03), demanded an immediate resumption of the effort and a transparent timeline of the project. The full text is below, and the formatted letter can be found here: The Honorable Scott Bessent Secretary of the Treasury U.S. Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20220 Dear Secretary Bessent: With disappointment and frustration, we write to urge the U.S. Department of the Treasury to immediately resume the now 10-year effort to place abolitionist Harriet Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill. Harriet Tubman put her own life and freedom at risk to lead hundreds of enslaved Americans to freedom. Like the other patriots we honor on our currency, Tubman was an American hero whose extraordinary life embodied our nation’s enduring commitment to liberty and justice for all. It is long past time for our currency to recognize the historic contributions of women who helped shape the story of our nation. This effort is especially important to New York’s 22nd Congressional District. After the Civil War ended, Tubman returned to her home in Auburn, New York, where she spent the rest of her life caring for formerly enslaved Americans and championing the cause of women’s suffrage. In January 2017, the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn was formally established to preserve and share the legacy of one of America’s greatest freedom fighters. The effort to place Tubman on U.S. currency began over a decade ago in 2015, when the grassroots “Women on 20s” campaign conducted an online poll asking the public to select a woman to be featured on the twenty-dollar bill. More than 600,000 votes were cast, and Harriet Tubman emerged as the public’s top choice. This initiative was lauded by Members of Congress across the political spectrum, further cementing Tubman’s reputation as a universally admired and respected American hero. The following year, reflecting this groundswell of public support and building on the long tradition of commemorating Tubman across the country, then-Treasury Secretary Jack Lew announced that Tubman would replace Andrew Jackson on the twenty-dollar bill. Following a four-year pause of the project under the leadership of former Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Secretary Janet Yellen worked to get the Department back on track to meet its original timeline for circulation of the new currency. However, your recent public statements that the Department is not presently moving forward with the redesign have once again left our constituents and Americans across the country confused and disappointed by the Department’s failure to follow through on this long-awaited effort. While we understand the need for an extended timeline to rollout a new paper currency and implement and ensure anti-counterfeiting measures, that does not excuse the complete lack of transparency surrounding the project status, nor the apparent indefinite suspension of the entire initiative. This silence is especially frustrating given the Department’s sudden and seemingly expedited plans for several commemorative coins depicting President Donald Trump and an unconstitutional effort to issue a new $250 paper currency featuring the President. Given the Department’s current focus on developing new currency notes, we urge you to first resume and then implement the now long-overdue effort to portray Harriet Tubman on the twenty-dollar bill. Furthermore, in the interest of transparency for the American people, we ask for a detailed update on the current status of the project and a clear response as to whether the effort has been delayed or permanently discontinued. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and I look forward to receiving a timely response. Sincerely, John W. Mannion Member of Congress # # #