FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Apr. 18, 2025
CONTACT: Jarice Thompson, jarice@ourfinancialsecurity.org
Broad Coalition Applauds District Court Shutdown of CFPB Staff Firings
Today, Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the US District Court for the District of Columbia halted the Trump Administration’s attempted firings of 1,500 Consumer Finance Protection Bureau employees.
“Federal workers and their families are our neighbors who live, work and send their children to schools across Alabama and across our country,” said Robyn Hyden, Executive Director of Alabama Arise. “They help keep our food, workplaces and environment safe. And they carry out missions that underpin our entire economy. We are proud to support CFPB workers and other federal employees as they challenge illegal firings and funding freezes while still maintaining vital services and defending their obligations to the public and the Constitution.”
“We’re relieved that the court has stepped in to stop this dangerous overreach,” said Amanda N. Jackson, consumer campaign director. “The attempted firing of 1,500 dedicated public servants was not only a threat to the livelihoods of workers, but to the millions of people who count on the CFPB to hold financial actors accountable. We thank the court for recognizing what the law and the public interest demand — that the CFPB must remain open, functioning, and fully staffed to fulfill its mandate to protect consumers.”
“On the heels of the financial crisis, and with the economy in tatters, Congress established the CFPB. UnidosUS advocated for its creation because its mandate includes ‘ensuring that all consumers have access’ to financial products that are transparent and competitive,” said Laura MacCleery, Senior Policy Director, UnidosUS. “This mandate is an essential foundation for a fair economy. For years, the CFPB has helped to end scams and schemes that target middle- and lower-income families. This assignment came from Congress and endures in law, as the courts recognize, and so does the responsibility to keep the Bureau’s doors open so that it can continue all of this critical work on behalf of millions.”
“This latest attempt to gut the CFPB is a brazen power grab — not just a mass firing, but a full-scale assault on the very people the Bureau was created to protect,” said John Breyault, National Consumers League Vice President of Public Policy, Telecommunications, and Fraud. “From medical debt to overdraft scams, the Trump Administration is handing predatory financial companies a green light to exploit struggling Americans and silencing the watchdogs brave enough to call it out. We are relieved the court stepped in to stop this unlawful move, but it may only be a temporary reprieve. Leaders of conscience in Congress must act now to defend the CFPB’s mandate and stop this Administration from dismantling the very protections millions rely on.”
“Congress created the CFPB to prevent us from ever repeating the wild west of predatory, unfair mortgages and house-of-cards finance schemes that caused millions of Americans to lose their homes and that crashed the economy in 2008,” said Sharon Cornelissen, Director of Housing at the Consumer Federation of America. “Now, barely two decades later, the Administration wants our mortgage marketplace to go unpoliced once again—this opens up the door for consumers to get ripped off and will introduce broad risks in our housing finance system, all to stuff the pockets of big companies.”
“The Trump Administration is attempting to illegally shut down the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which does critical work protecting people across the country, and we are gratified that Judge Jackson is not going to tolerate violation of her orders,” said Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center. “The courts are the last line of defense against this Administration’s repeated efforts to dismantle the CFPB and clear the way for unscrupulous companies to violate the law and exploit servicemembers, veterans, and their families.”
“We are grateful for the Court. The deliberate and vicious attack on the CFPB is an attack on vulnerable Americans who have relied on this agency to mitigate harm from financial predators. Dismantling this agency and repealing the rules they have painstakingly put in place has a ripple effect and creates a moral crisis,” stated Rev. Dr. Cassandra Gould, Political Director of Faith in Action National Network, added, “As a faith leader I am reminded of Proverbs 22:22 which states, “Not to rob the poor because they are poor.” Without the CFPB hard working poor people will become especially vulnerable to reverse robinhood practices. We need Congressional leaders of faith and moral courage to show up on behalf of the vulnerable and keep the CFPB fully functioning and intact.”
“We applaud Judge Jackson for putting the brakes on this illegal firing,” said Adam Rust, director of financial services for the Consumer Federation of America. “Nonetheless, it is impossible to ignore how the CFPB’s current leadership has revealed its intention to gut an agency, no matter if doing so is legal or sensible. In the memo leaked on Wednesday, the CFPB said it would retreat from most of its work, and its claims to still protect servicemembers and mortgage applicants ring hollow after the reduction in force order called for wholesale firings in the Office of Servicemember Affairs and critical sections focused on mortgage lending. The CFPB exists because excessive risk-taking brought down our economy, causing millions of people to lose their homes, jobs, small businesses, and live savings. Judge Jackson may be all that stands between a safe financial services marketplace and this Administration’s intent to side with fraudsters, Big Tech, and predatory lenders.”
“The CFPB has returned over $21 billion dollars to 200 million Americans,” said Accountable.US Executive Director Tony Carrk. “Despite a court order blocking an illegal shutdown, President Trump is taking aim at the CFPB once again and opening the flood gates for consumer fraud and abuse.”
“The illegal dismissal of over 1,500 CFPB employees is not just an attack on workers — it’s an assault on the very mission of consumer protection. We stand in solidarity with those affected and will not stay silent while the vital work of safeguarding Americans from financial abuse is dismantled. Accountability and justice must prevail.”
“The administration’s efforts to gut the CFPB through mass layoffs represent a huge betrayal of working families who depend on this critical watchdog to stand up to the banks and big tech firms and protect them from fraud and abusive financial practices,” said Chuck Bell, advocacy program director at Consumer Reports. “At a time when so many Americans are struggling with inflation and the high cost of living, it is deeply troubling to see these ongoing efforts to dismantle the agency dedicated to protecting our wallets.”
“The Trump Administration is looking to pull back the CFPB’s regulatory oversight of non-bank industries, like payday lenders, mortgage companies, and private student loan companies; and firing everyone with the expertise to oversee those industries — predatory actors will see this as open season to prey on consumers” said Jane Doyle, Acting Director of Policy at Woodstock Institute. “In this critical moment, the CFPB should be stepping up to protect consumers, not withdrawing from its core mission.”
“Today, the courts stood between Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and their illegal scheme to turn the CFPB into a hollow shell—because a watchdog that can’t bark is perfect for a billionaire who can’t make an honest buck. And let’s be blunt: Musk is trying to illegally fire the federal employees who would oversee his Twitter/X payments business and already oversee TESLA’s auto lending giant—and who knows what other ventures,” said SBPC Executive Director Mike Pierce, who served as a senior CFPB official under Presidents Obama and Trump. “This chaotic, all-night RIF attempt wasn’t just incompetent and unlawful, it was a confession. Musk knows the CFPB would crack down on his financial schemes, so he’s rushing to gut the agency first. The courts saw through this today, but Trump and Musk will keep trying. They have made it their mission to encourage corporate financial fraud, no matter how many laws they break in the process. It’s obvious why.”
“We are watching a surge in financial fraud, as big banks and so-called fintechs target people and take their money,” said Eric Halperin, who previously served as CFPB Enforcement Director. “Instead of fighting against fraud and for working people, Donald Trump and Russ Vought have fired hundreds of law enforcement officials and are letting corporate criminals off the hook.”
“Fifteen years ago, Congress directed the CFPB to supervise the biggest and riskiest financial companies to protect working families and prevent the next financial crisis,” said Lorelei Salas, who previously served as CFPB Supervision Director. “Today, Donald Trump and Russ Vought brazenly defied a court’s order because they care more about the bottom line of their billionaire benefactors than they do about the American people or the law.”
“Russ Vought’s brazen attempts to dismantle CFPB are reckless, illegal, and an insult to the American people,” said Seth Frotman, who previously served as CFPB General Counsel. “When students are cheated by scam schools, servicemembers are ripped off by predatory lenders, and our parents are robbed of their retirement savings, Americans will remember that this was Trump’s legacy.”
“The illegal firing of 1,500 dedicated public servants at the CFPB is not just a bureaucratic purge—it’s a betrayal of the American people. This attack is a direct assault on the watchdog created to protect consumers from financial abuse, scams, and predatory corporations. This mass firing is not about efficiency—it’s about erasing accountability. The CFPB has returned over $21 billion to the people and stood as a line of defense against corporate fraud. Slashing its workforce endangers every American struggling with rising costs and unfair financial practices. There is no power to the people in protecting profiteers. We at People Power United will not stand by while protections for servicemembers, veterans, and working families are torn apart to benefit the ultra-rich. This is a moral crisis—and we will fight it with everything we’ve got.”
– Laurie Woodward Garcia, People Power United
By gutting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and cutting 1,500 jobs, the Trump administration is stripping away critical safeguards that protect everyday Americans from financial abuse, said Samuel Molina, AFC ®, CEO and Founder of The Academy of Financial Education. Without these protections, consumers are left vulnerable to predatory lending, deceptive financial practices, and systemic exploitation. It’s deeply troubling that this administration continues to prioritize corporate interests over the financial well-being of hardworking individuals, undermining efforts to build and sustain personal and generational wealth.
The unrelenting attacks on the CFPB will take us back to a time when there was little to no oversight on practices that harmed consumers in our state. Seniors who are barely holding on to their homes, families who are losing property and funds due to predatory lending, students who are unable to reach their full potential due to debt that encumbers them from scam schools and universities, and servicemembers who are there to protect us deserve to have the CFPB as a strong independent agency to oversee bad actors and ensure that they are not picking their pockets for their hard earned money. Firing the agency employees and dismantling this work that is so critical cannot be tolerated in order to line the pockets of corporations and large financial institutions.
–Sue Berkowitz, Founder/Director of Policy and Attorney, South Carolina Appleseed Legal Justice Center
“Federal workers and their families are our neighbors who live, work and send their children to schools across Alabama and across our country,” said Robyn Hyden, executive director of Alabama Arise. “They help keep our food, workplaces and environment safe. And they carry out missions that underpin our entire economy. We are proud to support CFPB workers and other federal employees as they challenge illegal firings and funding freezes while still maintaining vital services and defending their obligations to the public and the Constitution.”
“The Trump administration’s attempt to fire 1,500 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees is its latest move to dismantle the federal watchdog responsible for protecting consumers. To strip down the CFPB is to empower the most powerful and predatory financial institutions to exploit and abuse everyday people for profit. We applaud Judge Jackson for affirming the move as a clear violation of her order and blocking the illegal attempted purge.”
–Saisha Rattan, Senior Economic Policy Analyst, 20/20 Vision
“The MAGA regime showed today clearly that they are on the side of Billionaires and Wall Street elites, not the side of workers or the public with the attempt to fire 1,500 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees this week. Step Up Louisiana knows firsthand the impacts of the damages to our economy, housing market, and savings that greedy Wall Street bankers can do without the protections of the CFBP.”
–Ben Zucker, Co-Director Step Up Louisiana
“The attempted layoffs at the CFPB are illegal, and the loss of most of the CFPB’s staff would have devastating consequences for American consumers and our economy,” said Caroline Kraczon, Law Fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). “The attempted mass layoff would leave the CFPB unable to perform the legal obligations that Congress gave the agency when it was created in 2010. This illegal dismantling of the CFPB would debilitate a vital watchdog that has served consumers in the financial marketplace for almost 15 years.”
“This administration’s illegal firing of most of the CFPB’s staff is absolutely deplorable and is an attack on all consumers,” said Stephanie Carroll, Directing Attorney of Public Counsel’s Consumer Rights and Economic Justice team. “With economic indicators pointing towards a recession, we need to protect consumers now more than ever. Yet, this administration seems hell bent on dismantling one of the few federal agencies that actually puts money back in consumers’ pockets when financial institutions rip people off and commit fraud. The stripping back of agency staff and consumer-friendly regulations will expose Americans to ever more overdraft fees, predatory lending tactics, and debt when most families are already struggling to make ends meet.”
“The Trump Administration’s attacks on the CFPB are attacks on working-class families here in California and across America. Since its creation, the CFPB has returned more than $21 billion to people who were preyed upon by financial institutions,” said Paulina Gonzalez-Brito, Chief Executive Officer of Rise Economy. “The dismantling of the CFPB not only leaves Americans unprotected from financial predation and grants Wall Street unfettered power, but it also unlawfully undermines the bureau that Congress established through the Dodd-Frank Act. We urge Congress to act swiftly and decisively to defend the CFPB.”
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau provides critical support to ordinary Americans. People with disabilities are more likely to experience high fees, high debt, and fraud. Eliminating the CFPB’s staff will harm the financial and economic futures of people with disabilities and their families,” said Thomas Foley, Executive Director of National Disability Institute
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