The Trump administration is officially pushing Congress to overturn 160 years of federal law and print a $250 bill bearing the president's portrait, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced from the White House this week.
Bessent framed the effort as a patriotic gesture tied to America's 250th independence anniversary. The treasury has already begun preparing prototypes, he said, and legislation is pending in both the House and Senate to make it possible.
"Right now there is proposed legislation in front of the House, in front of the Senate, to change the first requirement, so that a living person, Donald J Trump, could be on the $250 bill," Bessent said at a news conference.
The prototypes were designed by Iain Alexander, a British royal portrait artist and former Olympic swimmer, according to reporting on the project. Two of Trump's political appointees at the treasury reportedly pushed staff to begin the work, raising questions about whether preparing the designs breached federal law.
Bessent insisted the treasury would "stick to the law" and deferred the final decision to Capitol Hill.
The political path forward is murky at best. A simple majority in the Republican-controlled House could advance the bill, but it would likely stall in the Senate, where Republicans hold only 53 of 100 seats. The proposal would need 60 votes to overcome any filibuster, making passage extremely unlikely.
House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries wasted no time dismissing the idea. "Hard no on a Trump $250 bill," he wrote on X. "Get over yourself. The upcoming July 4th anniversary is not about a wannabe King. It's about celebrating the American journey."
When asked whether printing Trump's face on currency made sense while Americans struggle with the cost of living, Bessent defended the move as unremarkable. He saw nothing improper about featuring the sitting president on a bill commemorating the nation's founding anniversary.
The current prohibition dates to 1866, when Congress voted to ban the images of any living person from appearing on currency, bonds, or securities. The rule came in the aftermath of a scandal involving the superintendent of the country's currency, whose image had appeared on five-cent notes.
Author James Rodriguez: "This reads like a vanity project that won't survive a Senate vote, and Bessent knows it. The real question is why the administration is wasting political capital on something this symbolic when they could spend it on actual legislation."
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