In an email to staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the agency’s acting director ordered workers to cease “all supervision and examination activity.”According to The New York Times, employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were instructed to halt all supervision and examination activity, as well as stakeholder engagement, in an email from the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, on Saturday evening. This effectively stopped the agency’s operations.
Mr. Vought, who was recently confirmed as the head of the Office of Management and Budget, was named acting director of the consumer protection bureau on Friday. In his email to staff, he reiterated previous instructions from the previous acting director, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, to not issue any new rules or guidance and to cease all investigations.
“As acting director, I am committed to implementing the president’s policies, in accordance with the law, and acting as a responsible steward of the bureau’s resources,” Mr. Vought wrote in the email, which was obtained by The New York Times.
The consumer protection bureau, which was created by Congress in 2011 as a watchdog for the financial industry, cannot be shut down without congressional action. However, its director has the power to freeze most of its actions by halting enforcement, weakening or repealing regulations, and softening its supervision of banks and other lenders. The agency did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Over the years, the agency has issued several high-profile regulations and enforcement actions aimed at strengthening safeguards on mortgages, credit cards, loans, and other consumer finance. Most recently, the bureau sued Capital One in mid-January, accusing the bank of misleading customers by promoting a high-yield savings account that actually had a near-zero interest rate.
In a post on X on Saturday evening, Mr. Vought, who is also an author of Project 2025, a conservative plan to overhaul the federal government, stated that he had informed the Federal Reserve that the finance bureau would not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it was not “reasonably necessary” to carry out its duties. The agency is funded directly by the Federal Reserve, outside of the usual congressional appropriations process.
“The bureau’s current balance of $711.6 million is excessive in the current fiscal environment,” Mr. Vought wrote in his post. “This spigot, which has long contributed to the bureau’s lack of accountability, is now being turned off.”
On Saturday, members of the union representing the consumer protection bureau’s employees protested outside the agency’s Washington headquarters, holding signs mocking Elon Musk, whose government efficiency efforts have caused chaos in various federal agencies. According to The New York Times, several members of Mr. Musk’s team arrived at the agency’s building to assist with the transition.
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