While most Americans probably don’t carry $100 bills, they exist, and they feature Benjamin Franklin’s face. At least, that is, they currently feature Benjamin Franklin’s face.
As The Hill reported, Republican Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas, one of Congress’ newest and youngest members, has proposed legislation to redesign the C note.
First-term GOP Rep. Brandon Gill (Texas) has introduced a measure that would require all $100 bills to have President [Donald] Trump’s face on them. The legislation, titled the Golden Age Act of 2025, highlights a common sentiment from the president and his allies, which is that his second term will usher in the “Golden Age of America.”
The congressman added in a written statement that altering the currency on Trump’s behalf would be “a small way to honor all he will accomplish these next four years.”
Or put another way, Gill isn’t prepared to celebrate Trump’s actual record so much as he wants to put the president’s face on $100 bills in honor of accomplishments that haven’t yet happened.
The legislation — which, incidentally, is quite real and not something I made up to make members of Congress appear foolish — has already picked up two co-sponsors: Republican Reps. Troy Nehls of Texas and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
In case this weren’t quite enough, the same afternoon, Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California announced that he’s nominating Trump for a Nobel Peace Prize. The GOP congressman didn’t say why, exactly, he was doing this, though it’s likely that the president, who has long lobbied for the honor, will be pleased.
Issa is also the co-sponsor of legislation, introduced last week, that would create a $250 bill, and its Republican authors also want to feature Trump’s face. (Existing federal law prohibits any living person from being depicted on U.S. currency, but the bill would create a one-time exception to the legal prohibition.)
As we discussed last week, there is a temptation to ignore silly congressional efforts like these, which will almost certainly go ignored. There is, however, a larger pattern that’s worth appreciating.
A few weeks ago, for example, Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney of New York introduced legislation to make Trump’s birthday a federal holiday. The GOP congresswoman, in apparent seriousness, argued that such a move would “recognize him as the founder of America’s Golden Age.”
That bill came on the heels of a bill intended to carve Trump’s face into Mount Rushmore, which came on the heels of a measure to allow Trump to seek a third term.
There are also pending bills to rename Washington Dulles International Airport after Trump, as well as legislation to “expunge” Trump’s first two impeachments. As The New York Times recently summarized, “A competition of sorts has broken out for whom the Republican base will see as the most pro-Trump member.” From the article: The rush of flattering legislation, some of which even the lawmakers concede is unlikely to pass, stands apart from merely carrying out Mr. Trump’s agenda. … “It shows the power that Donald Trump has within the Republican Party these days, and that Republican members want to stay on his good side,” said Sean M. Theriault, government professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “A lot of these people are in really safe districts, but they’re also thinking about what their next step is. And so if they have designs on being in the Senate or running for governor or even a position in the administration, then there’s no better way to get on his good side than to do these over-the-top moves toward him.”
This was published before the $250 bill proposal, the $100 bill proposal, the proposal related to Trump’s birthday, and Nobel Peace Prize nomination. I’m reminded once again of the response to the Ogles bill from Filipe Campante, a professor at Johns Hopkins University: “The reason why this is bad is the very fact that it’s transparently ridiculous: It shows how this is becoming a Kim Jong-Un-style cult of personality, where the sycophants try to outdo one another in their groveling to get the attention of Dear Leader.” That competition, alas, is apparently intensifying. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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