Democratic lawmakers are pushing the Treasury Department to place Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill after Secretary Scott Bessent said those plans were put on hold in an interview with Spectrum News.

Tubman, who is credited with conducting 13 missions on the Underground Railroad to free approximately 70 slaves, was supposed to appear on the new $20 note when it entered circulation in 2020. But the new bill was delayed under President Donald Trump’s first administration until at least 2026 to incorporate new anti-counterfeiting technology.

But when asked by Spectrum News last month if Treasury was still planning to put Tubman on the new $20, Bessent replied, “We are not at present.”

Now Reps. John Mannion, D-N.Y. and Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, sent a letter to Bessent, calling for transparency around the decision and for the department to reconsider.

“While we understand the need for an extended timeline to roll out 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,” the lawmakers wrote. Beatty has been championing putting Tubman on the $20 for a decade, while Mannion represents Auburn, N.Y., Tubman’s home after the Civil War.

Mannion and Beatty’s letter follows a letter from Democratic senators last month pressing for answers about the decision to pull the plug on the initiative, which was first unveiled under President Barack Obama. 

We reached out to the Treasury Department to confirm receipt of the letters and for comment, but our requests went unanswered.