WASHINGTON – A judge said in ruling Friday that the Consumer Financial Protection Agency could not fire employees for no reason and could not hit President Donald Trump’s efforts to dismantle the agency. .
The court order came in response to a lawsuit this week by the National Federation of Finance Staff and the CFPB Employees Association, among other groups sued by the agency and its representative director Russell. They asked the judge to “declaring illegal, put the defendant’s actions aside and intended further action to dismantle the CFPB.”
The ruling by US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson prevents mass shootings at the agency and prohibits the removal of agency data.
“The defendant must not terminate a CFPB employee except for causes related to the performance or behavior of a particular employee, and the defendant shall issue a notice of force reduction to CFPB employees. There is none,” the judge wrote.
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The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The CFPB Media Team also did not respond to requests for comment, but Vought issued instructions to employees last week to not issue public communications.
The court docket indicated that the parties agreed to the order.
The judge also ordered Vought and the CFPB to “take steps to reduce the amount available to the CFPB.”
Vought previously had tried to cut off additional CFPB funds. He said last week in a post on X that the department notified the Federal Reserve Reserve that it would not “get the next draw” in funding, claiming it would not be necessary to fulfill its department’s obligations.
“This spigot, which has long contributed to the CFPB’s inexplainability, is now off,” he said in the post.
Last week, Vought issued a series of directives to CFPB employees, directing them to “stop all supervision and testing activities,” “stop all stakeholders’ engagement,” and “stop all stakeholders’ engagement,” and “suggested proposals or final rules.” or will not approve or issue formal or unofficial guidance. Among other commands. CFPB staff were also instructed not to work this week.
Trump previously laid out his purpose to remove the station entirely. When asked this week if he could confirm whether his goal was to completely eliminate the station, Trump said, “I’d say it is.”
“Because we’re trying to get rid of waste, fraud and abuse,” he said. The administration has not provided evidence to support allegations of fraud at the agency.
Similarly, tech billionaire and Trump ally Elon Musk have denounced the CFPB and wrote “CFPB RIP” in an X post with gravestone emojis.
Musk is spearheading Trump’s Government Efficiency Advisory Bureau, which is working to cut government spending. Doge has played a key role in the administration’s drive to cut programs and dramatically reduce the government’s workforce that it finds in vain.
Friday’s court order is the latest in a series of set-offs against the Trump administration’s efforts to rebuild the federal government.
On Thursday, the judge ruled that the administration must temporarily allow foreign aid payments. Another judge temporarily suspended plans to cut certain federal research funds.
However, the administration won again this week. On Wednesday, the judge ended a temporary suspension of the White House’s “deferred resignation” offer program, which encourages federal employees to resign.
Gabe Gutierrez and Sarah Dean contributed.
