CFPB, Federal Agencies, State Agencies, and Attorneys General
In Fiscal Year 2026, ending September 30, 2026, the CFPB will need $279.6 million just to maintain its activities that are required by law, Bureau Acting Director Russell Vought wrote in letters to House and Senate appropriators and President Trump.
Under Section 1017 of Dodd Frank, the CFPB may be funded only from the “combined earnings” of the Federal Reserve System (see here, here, and here; see our Podcast here).… Continue Reading
On December 15, at noon, we will be producing a webinar entitled, “The CFPB’s Funding Crisis: Legal, Operational and Policy Implications.” A registration link is embedded in the invitation, which is here.
Contending that the CFPB is relying on a “novel” definition of “combined earnings,” the union representing CFPB employees is asking a federal court to rule that the Trump Administration is planning to violate an injunction barring the administration from shutting down the bureau.… Continue Reading
The CFPB is transferring all of its pending litigation to the Justice Department as a result of the funding crisis the Trump Administration has said the bureau faces, several news organizations have reported.
In addition, at a meeting on Thursday, Michael Salemi, the CFPB’s acting director of enforcement, said that more than 100 people will be furloughed because the CFPB is running out of money, The American Banker reported.… Continue Reading
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is facing an unprecedented financial crisis—and the consequences could reshape the future of consumer financial protection. On December 10, 2025, Acting CFPB Director Russ Vought informed the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that the Bureau will run out of money by year-end unless Congress provides a direct appropriation.… Continue Reading
President Trump has nominated Stuart Levenbach, an Associate Director of the Office of Management and Budget, as CFPB director.
At OMB, Levenbach handles natural resources, energy, science and water issues. During President Trump’s first term, Levenbach was chief of staff of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Levenbach does not have a background in consumer finance and multiple news organizations have reported that Trump Administration officials have said that the nomination was a technical move.… Continue Reading
The CFPB is running out of money and has no legal way to replenish its coffers, absent Congressional appropriation, the Trump Administration told a federal court.
The bureau “anticipates exhausting its currently available funds in early 2026,” the Justice Department told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia as part of a lawsuit filed by the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU).… Continue Reading
The quality of the CFPB’s information security program “has decreased since last year, leading us to conclude the program no longer is effective,” the bureau’s Inspector General (IG), said in a report.
The bureau’s overall security program has decreased from “manageable and measurable” to “defined,” the IG said in an annual audit conducted between April 2025 and October 2025, which is only one step above the lowest security rating.… Continue Reading
Democrats on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee are accusing Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought of trying to shut down the CFPB by starving it of funding.
“You have…let the fiscal year pass without having requested any funding for the CFPB to perform its work, an unprecedented approach that threatens to leave the agency unable to fulfill its many statutory obligations on behalf of consumers across the country,” the Democrats, led by ranking Democratic Sen.… Continue Reading
Contending that it cannot abolish the CFPB on its own, the Trump Administration said that the union arguing that such a plan exists should not be entitled to an en banc hearing before an appeals court.
“Although factual disputes exist surrounding those actions, all the parties and both the majority and dissenting opinions agree that the Executive Branch lacks power to unilaterally abolish [the] CFPB based on policy disagreements with Congress’s choices,” the Justice Department said, in response to the request for an en banc hearing filed by the National Treasury Employees Union in the U.S.… Continue Reading
A federal appeals court has rejected the Trump Administration’s request to delay its response to an en banc hearing request in the lawsuit challenging the mass firings at the CFPB due to the government shutdown.
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which is challenging the firings, had not opposed the Administration’s request.… Continue Reading
