Yahoo TV

It was an Obama-era initiative to put escaped slave and abolitionist Harriet Tubman on a $20 bill -- that former President Donald Trump cast aside as an example of quote "pure political correctness."

Now, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, who formerly worked in communications at the White House under Obama, said that initiative has been revitalized under Biden.

"I was here when we announced that. It hasn't moved forward yet. Which we would have been surprised to learn at the time. The Treasury Department is taking steps to resume efforts to put Harriet Tubman on the front of the new $20 notes. It's important that our notes, our money, for people who don't know what a 'note' is, reflect the history and diversity of our country. And Harriet Tubman's gracing the new $20 note, would certainly reflect that. So we're exploring ways to speed up that effort."

The redesigned bill was initially to be unveiled in 2020, but those efforts were delayed by the Trump administration.

As a presidential candidate, Trump suggested Tubman would be better-suited for the $2 bill, a note that is not widely circulated.

Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told lawmakers in May 2019 that he was focused on redesigning bills to address counterfeiting issues, not making changes to their imagery, and said no imagery changes were likely until 2026.

Under the plans announced in 2016, Tubman, who was born into slavery and grew up on a Maryland plantation before escaping in her late 20s, would replace Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States who was criticized for owning slaves, on the front of the $20 bill.