Feb. 10 (UPI) — Workers at the federal government’s consumer finance watchdog in Washington were told to stay home Monday after the acting director, newly installed by President Donald Trump, ordered the agency to halt its operations.
Around 1,700 staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau received an email Sunday from Chief Operating Officer Adam Martinez informing them that the head office would be closed Monday through Friday, according to reports by The Washington Post, USA Today and CNBC.
Russell Vought, acting head of the Federal Reserve agency set up in 2011 in the wake of the financial crisis to protect consumers from predatory lending by banks and other financial firms, had earlier emailed staff instructing them to “cease all supervision and examination,” including of financial firms, and stop all engagement with stakeholders.
“I am committed to implementing the president’s policies, consistent with the law, and acting as a faithful steward of the Bureau’s resources,” wrote Vought, whom Trump re-appointed as his director of the Office of Management and Budget, to run his budget and ensure government programs and agencies ally with the president’s policies.
“Effective immediately, unless expressly approved by the acting director or required by law, all employees, contractors and other personnel of the bureau shall … cease all supervision and examination activity.”
CNBC, quoting a source with knowledge of the agency, said only a few hundreds of the roles at CFPB were mandated by law and that managment had informed employees that a buyout offer made to other federal employees was available to them, on equivalent terms.
Vought took to social media calling the agency’s $711.6 million budget “excessive” and warning that it would not get its “next draw of unappropriated funding” because it did not need it to carry out its work.
“This spigot, long contributing to CFPB’s unaccountability, is now being turned off,” wrote Vought who is a co-author of the so-called Project 2025, the ultra-right masterplan for government that Trump disavowed duing his campaign.
The shuttering of the agency came after staffers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency visited the office Friday and Musk later wrote in a post on his X platform “CPFB RIP,” accompanied by a gravestone emoji.
Responding to replies highlighting the documented assistance the agency provides to the American public, Musk acknowledged it did do some good but said it still needed to go.
CNBC said it had been told by people familiar with the situation that the DOGE team had accessed CFPB data sources, including personnel records containing employee performance reviews.
Trump temporarily appointed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as acting head of CFPB after firing Rohit Chopra, who was appointed in 2021, on Feb. 1.
