J. David Ake/Getty Images
- The CFPB’s new acting director, Russell Vought, told workers on Monday to “not perform any work tasks.”
- It comes after a Sunday email telling employees not to come into the office.
- The federal consumer watching is the latest on President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting list.
A key federal consumer watchdog may be the next target of President Donald Trump’s cost-cutting agenda.
Russell Vought, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s acting director, sent an email to employees on Monday, reviewed by Business Insider, ordering them to “not perform any work tasks this week.”
For “any urgent matters,” Vought said in the email, workers should “get approval in writing” through Mark Paoletta, the chief legal officer.
“Otherwise, employees should stand down from performing any work task,” Vought said.
On Sunday, employees at the CFPB received a two-sentence email from Adam Martinez, the agency’s chief operating officer, telling DC employees to work remotely.
“The DC Headquarters Building will be closed this week (2/10-2/14). Employees and contractors are to work remotely unless instructed otherwise from our Acting Director or his designee,” the email, viewed by Business Insider, said.
It’s unclear when, if at all, the DC headquarters will reopen. The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump fired Rohit Chopra, the CFPB director under former President Joe Biden, on February 1. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took on the role of acting director of the agency up until the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Vought, took over the role on Saturday night.
The CFPB was established in 2011 to protect consumers from financial crises. It’s taken enforcement and oversight actions on big banks and lenders, returning billions of dollars to consumers. In an email on Saturday, Vought ordered employees to stop nearly all of the agency’s work, including its supervisory activities that ensure companies are complying with the law.
A CFPB employee told BI that the order caused nearly all of the agency’s ongoing work to stop.
Vought also wrote in a post on X on Saturday that the CFPB “will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not ‘reasonably necessary’ to carry out its duties.”
The CFPB receives its funding from the Federal Reserve rather than through Congress’ annual appropriations process, which has been criticized by many GOP lawmakers who have said Congress should oversee the agency’s funding.
“This spigot, long contributing to CFPB’s unaccountability, is now being turned off,” Vought said.
Adam Rust, the director of financial services at the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America, previously told BI that shutting down the CFPB would have “real ramifications for people’s pocketbooks.” The agency had rules to cap overdraft fees and remove medical debt from credit reports, which are now suspended.
Elon Musk, the leader of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency commission tasked with slashing government waste, has targeted a range of agencies over the past two weeks. A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s administration from placing more than 2,000 USAID workers on paid leave as the administration took steps to shut down the agency.
“CFPB RIP,” Musk wrote on X last week.
Got a tip? Contact this reporter securely on Signal at asheffey.97 or email her at [email protected].
