Ohio Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty isn’t a household name amongst the Democratic Party.
But the relative no-name lawmaker sure did get her 15 minutes of fame during a hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday.
No, this wasn’t about policy. It was about the $20 bill.
During a routine House Financial Services Committee meeting with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Beatty decided to hijack the meeting to discuss what’s happening with the $20 bill.
Here’s what went down:
BEATTY: “In 2016, former Secretary Jack Lew announced that Harriet Tubman was to be the new face of the $20 bill. Can you tell me what’s the current status of this project?”
TREASURY SECRETARY SCOTT BESSENT: “No ma’am, I can’t, but my staff will get back to you.”
BEATTY: “No, I want you to get back to me…”
Beatty did not accept Bessent’s response.
“No, I want you to get back to me because, see, there seems to be an issue when it comes to things that affect people of color or people who live in poverty, whether it is what you’re doing with social security, what you are doing with restricting funds—” she said as the chairman’s gavel could be heard repeatedly rapping, with chairman Republican Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil eventually telling her that her time had expired.
Beatty continued to disrupt proceedings as Steil repeatedly told her to yield.
“I’m not going to yield,” she said. “I’m not going to stop until you direct him to answer to me as a member of Congress … I will not stop. I will not be silent until you direct him to—”
Steil asked Beatty if she had “a parliament inquiry,” with Beatty saying she did.
“As a member of the United States Congress addressing the secretary, I am asking you to rule on asking this hostile witness to direct his response to me versus having him tell me that his staff will respond to me,” she said.
“My staff person didn’t ask him the question. I did.”
Steil said that did not qualify as “a parliament inquiry.”
Beatty continued to interrupt proceedings, suggesting she had a “point of privilege,” again saying she would not yield.
Steil informed her she did not have a valid “point of privilege” and told her to cease while rapping his gavel, which she eventually did.
Watch the entire exchange for yourself:
🚨NEW: Dem Rep Joyce Beatty DERAILS hearing for over 2 minutes after not liking Scott Bessent's answer🚨
BEATTY: "In 2016, former Secretary Jack Lew announced that Harriet Tubman was to be the new face of the $20 bill. Can you tell me what’s the current status of this project?"… pic.twitter.com/xEewvxNGsQ
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) May 7, 2025
During President Trump’s first term in 2016, he suggested that he opposed efforts to put Tubman on the $20 bill in place of Jackson.
“Andrew Jackson had a great history. I think it’s very rough when you take somebody off the bill,” Trump said in April 2016, according to the New York Post.
“I think Harriet Tubman is fantastic. I would love to leave Andrew Jackson and see if we can come up with another denomination,” he added, according to the Post.
“Maybe we do the $2 bill or another bill. I don’t like seeing it.”