CFPB Chief Closes Headquarters

The newly appointed acting director of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Russell Vought, ordered staff to stay home and not perform any work on Monday. This directive followed a decision to shut down the CFPB’s Washington headquarters, effectively idling nearly 2,000 employees responsible for enforcing consumer financial laws. Vought, a conservative budget advocate and critic of the CFPB, is known for supporting the agency’s abolition.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration's efforts to neutralize the CFPB escalated, particularly after Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency gained access to the agency's computer systems. Vought also halted the agency's oversight of financial companies.

The National Treasury Employees Union filed a federal lawsuit arguing that Vought’s actions undermine Congress's constitutional authority to set and fund the CFPB’s mission. The CFPB was created under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act to monitor consumer financial protection, and its funding comes from the Federal Reserve rather than directly from Congress.