President Trump’s administration is drastically reducing the size and mission of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, as part of a months-long effort to weaken the financial regulator.
The CFPB will lay off approximately 1,500 employees, or nearly 90% of its workforce, leaving around 200 people, according to an administration official who was not authorized to disclose the figure publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on the condition of anonymity. Fox Business first announced the number of layoffs.
Employees began receiving layoff notices on Thursday. Their access to agency systems, including emails, expires Friday evening.
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau identified your position being eliminated and your employment is subject to termination in accordance with reduction-in-force (RIF) procedures,” according to the emails.
Mark Paoletta, the agency’s chief legal officer, sent a message to employees on Wednesday describing a reduced mission, including plans to “shift resources away from enforcement and supervision that can be done by the states,” he wrote.
According to Paoletta, mortgage issues will be prioritized over medical debt, student loans, and digital payments.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, the CFPB was established with the mission of enforcing consumer protection laws and overseeing banks and other financial institutions, as well as seeking consumer relief or refunds.
For years, Republicans have criticized the agency, claiming that it is overzealous or unnecessary given that other federal agencies already regulate the financial sector.
More recently, the CFPB has been a top target of President Trump’s government cost-cutting efforts, led by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which has sought massive cuts to the federal workforce.
Members of the DOGE team entered the financial protection agency’s headquarters on February 7 and were given extensive access to the agency’s computer systems, CBS News reported. Musk wrote on X that same day, “CFPB, RIP.”
Russell Vought, the Office of Management and Budget’s director, ordered the agency to halt nearly all of its work in February.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson barred the Trump administration from enforcing the stop-work order or firing CFPB employees for non-performance.
However, an appeals court partially stayed that decision last week, allowing the administration to fire employees if it determines they aren’t necessary to carry out the CFPB’s legal duties.
Former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, a Biden-era appointee fired by Mr. Trump, sharply criticized agency cuts in a February interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes.”
He claimed that the agency had been targeted because major financial institutions “want a situation where the agency is a lapdog rather than a watchdog.”