Several employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) said in a series of court applications Thursday that the Trump administration appears to be directly inconsistent with the administration's claims earlier this week.
Consumer Watchdog officials told staff recently that they intend to eliminate all but five employees and transfer the CFPB legally necessary functions to other agencies.
“On multiple occasions, staff were told by senior executives that “writing is on the wall” and that “except for the end,” said one employee identified by the pseudonym Drew Doe.
“A senior executive said the same employee added that the CFPB “has a room in the Treasury, the White House or Federal Reserve system and five men and phones.”
A series of declarations from agency employees come after the Trump administration denied allegations that it was trying to remove the agency. In court Monday, Justice Department lawyers argued that the administration's recent actions and comments indicate that the CFPB continues to exist.
They pointed to President Trump's recent decision to nominate Jonathan McCernan to serve as CFPB director, and coach Russell Vought's statement that his leadership “intended to run a substantially more streamlined and efficient station.”
“The predicate to implementing a 'more streamlined and efficient station' means that there will continue to be CFPB,” DOJ writes.
The National Treasury Employee Union (NTEU) and several outside groups were confirmed earlier this month as directors of the Office of Management and Budget, as well as what was called the agency's “wholesale demolition.” Earlier this month, Vought ordered CFPB staff to suspend all jobs, fired about 100 employees and closed the agency's headquarters.
After the union raised concerns that the administration could implement massive layoffs and delete agency data, federal judges banned officials from temporarily firing staff, without cause or deletion and deletion.
CFPB employee identified by Alex Doe's pseudonym, said on Thursday that the agency's chief operating officer, Adam Martinez, told staff they plan to fire around 1,200 employees before CFPB “reduces completely.” The agency had over 1,700 employees as of 2024.
The dismissal notice was set to go out on February 14th, but was suspended that day by court order, the employee said.
Staff identified as Drew Doe said employees associated with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the cost-cutting team of tech billionaire Elon Musk who received access to CFPB systems and data, also did not complete the necessary training and did not sign an outline of rules governing the use of these systems and data.
