"The question was do we focus only on what happened in 1776 and the years around that or do we also talk about everything that has happened since then," said Lawrence Brown, a retired New York City doctor who served on the committee from 2019 to 2024. "'To me, the latter is just as important if not more important because it gives us answers to the questions of how did we maintain that Constitution? How did we maintain our independence?'"
Out Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent rejected several "woke" designs for commemorative coins for the nation's 250th anniversary next year, choosing instead a set of coins that will mostly honor white men. And now the administration seems poised to issue a coin bearing the face of a current, living president, something usually seen only in monarchies and dictatorships. The Treasury unveiled a set of commemorative coins that will be available next year, mostly for collectors, even though they will be legal tender.