Regulatory body directed to cease combatting financial exploitation and conduct operations from home, as headquarters temporarily suspends operations.
In an email obtained by CNN, Adam Martinez, the CFPB's chief operating officer, directed all employees and contractors in Washington to work remotely, with the DC Headquarters closing from February 10 to February 14. No reason for the sudden closure was provided, and the CFPB did not respond to CNN's request for comment.
The move follows Elon Musk's tweet of "CFPB RIP" with a tombstone emoji, and the subsequent deletion of the CFPB's X account by Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), after Russell Vought, who leads the Office of Management and Budget, took over as acting director of the CFPB. DOGE officials were granted administrative access to CFPB systems.
On Sunday night, the employees' union at the Treasury Department filed two lawsuits against Vought, challenging his actions and attempting to protect employees' data. These lawsuits, which seek to save the agency, were filed in the US District Court in DC, and have been met with swift responses from judges in past cases, particularly with concerns regarding data privacy.
Vought had previously ordered all CFPB employees to stop virtually all work, including fighting financial abuse, in an email sent Saturday night. This effectively pulled the nation's top consumer financial watchdog off the street, preventing it from providing oversight over financial institutions that could harm consumers.
"Nobody is actually overseeing $18 trillion in consumer debt right now to make sure millions of Americans aren't getting ripped off," a former CFPB official stated.
Vought subsequently announced that he had notified the Federal Reserve that the CFPB would not take its next draw of unappropriated funding, citing an excessive balance of $711.6 million as a reason. This move significantly reduced the agency's operational capacity.
The actions have been met with strong opposition from lawmakers and consumer advocacy groups. House Democrats have called for the reversal of these orders, and legal groups are preparing to defend the CFPB against these moves.
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The sudden closure of the CFPB headquarters for a week could potentially impact the business operations of the regulatory body. In response to the lawsuits filed by the employees' union, judges have shown concerns regarding data privacy in past cases.
