Some departments at the agency might be reduced to a single person
The Trump Administration has sent layoff notices to a large percentage of the staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), according to press reports. Also, a federal judge in Washington has scheduled a hearing today on the fate of the agency.
About 1,500 of the roughly 1,700 employees of the agency received layoff notices yesterday, The New York Times reports. The notices said the layoffs would be effective today and would affect virtually every department, including those dealing with student loans, medical debt, digital payments and peer-to-peer lending.
Some departments would be reduced to one person, a union official said.
The agency was created by Congress in 2011 to act as the "cop on the beat" for financial issues that affect consumers, in the words of its primary sponsor, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). Since its creation, the bureau has returned $21 billion to consumers who were defrauded or short-changed, according to official government records.
Court hearing looms
The notices hit just one day before U.S. Disrict Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson has scheduled a hearing today, seeking to determine whether the government has compied with her earlier order to stop dismantling the agency.
She ordered the government to produce a witness "with personal knowledge" of the scope of the layoffs and the Trump Administration's plans for the future of the bureau.
In February, the bureau was in the process of laying off a reported 1,200 employees when Jackson issued an injunction blocking mass firings or layoffs.
Posted: 2025-04-18 12:02:49
