'There will continue to be a CFPB': Trump administration announces it will not close bureau
The bureau, which has been a significant target for Republicans, plays a central role in the Trump administration’s initiative to reduce the federal bureaucracy.
TroibNews 
The Trump administration plans to maintain the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, albeit in a more streamlined format, as detailed in a recent court filing.
“The predicate to running a ‘more streamlined and efficient bureau’ is that there will continue to be a CFPB,” stated Russ Vought, the Acting Director of the consumer bureau, in a motion submitted late Monday in federal court in Washington.
The bureau, which has been a significant target for Republicans and financial institutions, is central to the Trump administration’s initiative to reduce the federal bureaucracy. In early February, advisers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency were assigned to the agency, leading Vought to direct staff to cease all operations. The bureau's headquarters have been closed, and probationary employees have been let go, raising fears about the possibility of the bureau's shutdown.
This motion was a response to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the CFPB union, which alleged that the Trump administration was planning to “dismantle” the agency following Vought's orders to halt staff work. The court has issued a preliminary injunction that pauses any firings within the agency until a hearing is scheduled for next Monday.
“Incoming Presidents of both parties have routinely issued directives that pause policy-related decision-making to allow the reevaluation of those policies that were under consideration or under development but not finalized by the prior administration,” Vought, who also serves as the White House budget director, contended in the motion.
He noted that the bureau's headquarters were closed — with employees advised not to come to work starting February 10 — due to the “disruptive protests involving the CFPB’s own staff” outside the building.
“Remarkably, the CFPB employee groups and other Plaintiffs now spin these actions and others as being part of a ‘coordinated campaign by the new administration to eliminate’ the CFPB,” he remarked.
The motion emphasizes that “because the public has an interest in ensuring that an agency can carry out its statutory duties in line with the policy priorities of the democratically elected administration, the public interest and balance of the equities tip in Defendants’ favor.”
Navid Kalantari contributed to this report for TROIB News
“The predicate to running a ‘more streamlined and efficient bureau’ is that there will continue to be a CFPB,” stated Russ Vought, the Acting Director of the consumer bureau, in a motion submitted late Monday in federal court in Washington.
The bureau, which has been a significant target for Republicans and financial institutions, is central to the Trump administration’s initiative to reduce the federal bureaucracy. In early February, advisers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency were assigned to the agency, leading Vought to direct staff to cease all operations. The bureau's headquarters have been closed, and probationary employees have been let go, raising fears about the possibility of the bureau's shutdown.
This motion was a response to a lawsuit filed earlier this month by the CFPB union, which alleged that the Trump administration was planning to “dismantle” the agency following Vought's orders to halt staff work. The court has issued a preliminary injunction that pauses any firings within the agency until a hearing is scheduled for next Monday.
“Incoming Presidents of both parties have routinely issued directives that pause policy-related decision-making to allow the reevaluation of those policies that were under consideration or under development but not finalized by the prior administration,” Vought, who also serves as the White House budget director, contended in the motion.
He noted that the bureau's headquarters were closed — with employees advised not to come to work starting February 10 — due to the “disruptive protests involving the CFPB’s own staff” outside the building.
“Remarkably, the CFPB employee groups and other Plaintiffs now spin these actions and others as being part of a ‘coordinated campaign by the new administration to eliminate’ the CFPB,” he remarked.
The motion emphasizes that “because the public has an interest in ensuring that an agency can carry out its statutory duties in line with the policy priorities of the democratically elected administration, the public interest and balance of the equities tip in Defendants’ favor.”
Navid Kalantari contributed to this report for TROIB News
