U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson orders agency to reinstate fired employees, stop any reductions in force, preserve data and ensure employees can perform their statutorily mandated functions
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson granted a motion for a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit brought by the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and other plaintiffs against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought. In a 112-page opinion, the judge agreed that the defendants were trying to eliminate the agency and that the plaintiffs would be likely to prevail in showing that the law does not permit them to do so.
NCLC is a plaintiff in the case, along with National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Virginia Poverty Law Center, and CFPB Employee Association. Terminally ill Pastor Eva Steege was also a plaintiff but passed away two weeks ago. She has been replaced by her husband Martin Theodore (“Ted”) Steege. The plaintiffs are represented by Public Citizen Litigation Group, Gupta Wessler LLP, and NTEU.
“Today’s decision clears the way for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to get back to the work Congress created it to do – protecting people from predatory and unfair financial practices,” said Richard Dubois, executive director of the National Consumer Law Center. “I am grateful to the legal team for fighting to reverse the illegal shuttering of the CFPB and to the court for its unequivocal action to stop this brazen attempt to undermine the essential work of the nation’s consumer watchdog.”
Deepak Gupta, founding principal of Gupta Wessler LLP, said “When we filed this lawsuit, the Trump Administration had paralyzed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s work and was within hours of firing nearly its entire staff. Today’s victory blocks the unprecedented plan to dismantle the CFPB–an agency that Congress created to protect Americans’ financial security. This ruling upholds the Constitution’s separation of powers and preserves the Bureau’s vital work. We’re heartened by the decision and look forward to continuing to press our case in court.”
In her decision, Jackson wrote: “The defendants were fully engaged in a hurried effort to dismantle and disable the agency entirely – firing all probationary and term-limited employees without cause, cutting off funding, terminating contracts, closing all of the offices, and implementing a reduction in force (‘RIF’) that would cover everyone else. These actions were taken in complete disregard for the decision Congress made 15 years ago, which was spurred by the devastating financial crisis of 2008 and embodied in the United States Code, that the agency must exist and that it must perform specific functions to protect the borrowing public.”
“Dismantling the CFPB would have devastating consequences for consumers across the country,” said Wendy Liu, an attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group. “The Court’s order is a crucial step towards preserving the agency and blocking the Trump administration’s illegal attempt to shutter it.”
Established by Congress in response to the 2008 financial crisis, the CFPB is tasked with protecting consumers from predatory practices by financial institutions. Since its inception, the agency has recovered billions of dollars for American citizens and helped create a fairer, more transparent financial marketplace.
In defiance of Congress’s role in our constitutional system and the separation of powers, President Trump openly declared his intent to “totally eliminate” the CFPB, and he and Secretary Vought acted quickly to carry out that direction. Their actions have caused mass confusion and imposed significant and irreparable harm on consumers across the country.
Related Resources
- NCLC Press Release: Lawsuit Challenges Trump Administration’s Illegal Effort to Shut Down CFPB
- Case Documents: NTEU, NCLC and others v. Vought, Case No. 1:25-cv-00381 (D.D.C)
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