A federal court blocked a drastic termination of U.S. best consumer protection agency staff the day after the Trump administration While authorities investigated whether the agency violated existing judicial orders, it moved to about 1,500 of the agency’s 1,700 workforce.
The ruling from Judge Amy Berman Jackson placed a legal hurdle Thursday before a massive layoff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
The administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment. It is unclear whether they will comply with the latest ruling.
A small number of departments have been completely eliminated by the administration, according to court filings, including the military office, the elderly American Bureau of Persons and the Office of Fair Lending. While the entire team responsible for CFPB’s data storage systems has ended, only eight employees remain in the consumer-friendly office.
The layoffs are just the latest blow in the ongoing battle for the agency’s bleak future, with hundreds of power cuts (RIF) letters Thursday cut.
In February, Jackson ordered a halt to termination at the CFPB, banning agents from deleting data or transferring spare funds, except for operational purposes.
According to a declaration from a fired employee, this week’s layoff, filed under the pseudonym Alex Doe, was managed by Gavin Kliger, Tech billionaire Elon Musk’s so-called “government efficiency,” or Doge staff. “He concluded the team for 36 consecutive hours so that notifications would occur yesterday (April 17th).
The declaration also said when team members raised concerns about a court order that required a “specific evaluation” of employees, “we were told that the numbers were all important.”
The staff union immediately filed an appeal seeking an order indicating the cause, alleging that the termination violated a court’s provisional injunction prohibiting the lawsuit “thwarting the defendant’s performance of statutory duties.”
“I started receiving RIF notifications yesterday afternoon and went out batches until the evening,” said a CFPB employee who requested anonymity for fear of retaliation. “As a result, the massive strip of work we do, including the work that is legally necessary, will not end.”
Following the cuts, all affected employees lost system access by local time until 6pm on Friday, and will then be placed on administrative leave until formal separation, according to a copy of the RIF reviewed by the Guardian.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, who first proposed creating a CFPB after the 2008 financial crisis, condemned the move.
“President Trump has only broken almost every CFPB staff, so agents can’t do the job of helping Americans who are scammered by big banks and giant companies,” Warren said in a statement. “Destroying the CFPB in the face of a court order blocking illegal closures is yet another attack on consumers and our democracy.”
Many have pointed to the influence of musk, and he reportedly placed Doge employees inside the agency and called them “public.”erase“CFPB to duplicate other regulators. Musk has been accused of being the mastermind behind the closure as it could benefit X Money, his planned financial services platform to become all apps as part of his social media platform’s ultimate aspirations.
Since its establishment, the bureau has recovered more than $21 billion for fraudulent consumers through enforcement actions against major financial institutions in 2022, including a $3.7 billion order to Wells Fargo. September polls We found that from Americans for financial reform, 91% of voters think it’s important to regulate financial services to ensure it’s fair to consumers, including 95% of Democrats and 87% of Republicans.
“[It] Another layoff CFPB employee said, “It breaks my heart that they are erasing so much work and goodwill.
