Exclusive: Senate Democrats seek probe of Trump $250 bill
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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent displays an article on the proposed $250 banknote featuring an image of President Trump during a news conference on May 28. Photo: Bonnie Cash/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Senate Democrats are asking the Treasury Department's Office of Inspector General to investigate resources devoted to a proposed $250 bill bearing President Trump's portrait.
Why it matters: Federal law bars living people from appearing on U.S. currency, making congressional action necessary before any $250 bill featuring Trump could be issued.
- Legislation to do so that Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) introduced has stalled. But the Washington Post reported last month that administration officials had repeatedly urged the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to prepare prototypes featuring Trump's portrait.
Driving the news: Democrats, led by top Senate Banking Committee Democrat Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), asked the department's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to investigate spending on what they called "an illegal $250 bill."
- U.S. law states that only "the portrait of a deceased individual may appear on United States currency and securities."
- Secretary Scott Bessent has acknowledged that reality, but he told reporters in late May that his department was preparing for the chance the legislation passes and that he didn't believe there was anything "untoward" about the president's face appearing on the bill.
Zoom in: "At a time when Americans continue to face rising costs, the Treasury Department should be focused on addressing pressing economic concerns rather than devoting resources to what appears to be an illegal vanity project for the President," reads the letter, delivered Tuesday.
- Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) joined Merkley and Warren in the request for a probe sent to Deputy Inspector General Loren Sciurba. The Treasury Inspector General post is currently vacant.
- The senators asked the OIG to evaluate the funding expended on the task, whether external stakeholders were involved and if discussions about the legality of the project were held, among other inquiries.
What they're saying: The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment, but a spokesperson previously told Axios that the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) was "conducting appropriate planning and due diligence" in response to Wilson's legislation.
- The spokesperson added that Treasurer Brandon Beach, who The Washington Post reported pushed BEP staff to prepare prototypes, "never asked staff to print the $250 note before congressional action occurs."
By the numbers: Still, more than a quarter of MAGA supporters opposed the plan, according to a recent Economist-YouGov poll.
- More broadly, 7 in 10 respondents were against it.
The bottom line: Trump's name will already appear on U.S. paper currency along with Bessent's, a first for a U.S. president meant to commemorate the 250th anniversary — as the president's identity has been become central to D.C. semiquincentennial celebrations.
Go deeper: 5 changes Trump could make to U.S. currency
