Solimene Was Fired for Refusing to Break Federal Law. Investigate Now.

Dear Members of Congress, This morning, the Washington Post reported that Trump administration officials have been pressuring the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to design a $250 bill featuring the President’s portrait — in direct violation of federal law, which explicitly prohibits living people from appearing on U.S. currency. No living person has appeared on American money since 1866, when the practice was outlawed. When Patricia Solimene — the first female director of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and a 24-year Army veteran — repeatedly told Trump appointees that the proposal was illegal and technically impossible on the required timeline, she was involuntarily reassigned last month. Her goodbye email read: “The buck stopped here.” Let that sink in. A career public servant and decorated veteran was pushed out of her job for refusing to help the President of the United States break federal law — in order to put his own face on the nation’s money. This is not a policy disagreement. It is not a difference of interpretation. The law is explicit: only deceased individuals may appear on U.S. currency. The administration’s own appointees knew this. They pressed forward anyway, and removed the official who said no. This follows the recent announcement that Trump’s signature will replace the U.S. Treasurer’s on $100 bills beginning in June — the first time in 165 years a sitting president’s name has appeared on American currency. The pattern is clear. American money is being turned into a vehicle for one man’s self-glorification, and the civil servants who stand in the way are being removed. We demand a full congressional investigation into the reassignment of Director Solimene, legislation explicitly prohibiting the use of federal currency for presidential branding, and accountability for the Treasury appointees who pressured federal employees to violate the law. “The buck stopped here.” Congress, it now stops with you.