The Treasury Department’s inspector general has agreed to look into the delay of the design and printing of the new $20 bill featuring Harriet Tubman, after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) requested the watchdog look into it.
“If, in the course of our audit work, we discover indications of employee misconduct or other matters that warrant a referral to our Office of Investigations, we will do so expeditiously,” acting Inspector General Rich Delmar wrote to Schumer Monday.
According to a New York Times report, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin kicked the can down the road on the new bill so that President Donald Trump wouldn’t cancel the process altogether, creating a PR nightmare. The President has scoffed at the redesign, a choice made by the Obama administration, dismissing it as “political correctness.”
Mnuchin claims that the delays have to do with installing security features, but experts have poked holes in that explanation, saying that design and security happen at the same time in the course of the process.
Read the full letter here via an NBC producer:
NEW: Letter to @SenSchumer says the Treasury IG will review the delay of the release of the Harriet Tubman $20: pic.twitter.com/vXSPaSBzGU
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) June 24, 2019
