The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to furlough much of its staff on Dec. 31 and transfer its remaining litigation to the Justice Department, according to the news site Government Executive.
CFPB Acting Director Russ Vought has sought to terminate most of the bureau’s staff and said he does not intend to ask the Federal Reserve for the bureau’s next round of appropriations, with the agency expected to run out of available funding sometime next year. According to the report, CFPB officials told staff on Thursday that the furloughs were to take place at the end of the year. They also said the bureau’s legal functions are being transferred to the Justice Department.
President Trump previously said he wants to close the CFPB, which was created by Congress. Trump recently nominated Stuart Levenbach to lead the bureau, but an agency spokesperson told Politico the nomination was a “technical” maneuver to allow Vought to continue leading the agency as acting director without a Senate confirmation.
Vought has previously sought to terminate most of CFPB’s staff, prompting a lawsuit from the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents bureau employees. That lawsuit is ongoing.
