The Trump administration denied allegations Monday that it aims to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
Government lawyers said in a new court filing that the consumer watchdog will continue to exist, as an employee union and other groups seek to halt what they have described as the “wholesale dismantling” of the agency.
“Remarkably, the CFPB employee groups and other Plaintiffs now spin these actions and others as being part of a ‘coordinated campaign by the new administration to eliminate the’ CFPB,” Justice Department lawyers wrote.
They pointed to Trump’s recent decision to nominate Jonathan McKernan, a former board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), to serve as CFPB director, and acting director Russell Vought’s intention to “run a substantially more streamline and efficient bureau.”
“The predicate to running a ‘more streamlined and efficient bureau’ is that there will continue to be a CFPB,” the DOJ added.
The assertion seemingly contradicts comments made by both President Trump and his close ally Elon Musk in recent weeks.
When asked in the Oval Office earlier this month whether his goal was to totally eliminate the CFPB, the president responded, “I would say yeah because we’re trying to get rid of waste, fraud, and abuse.”
Musk, who has previously called to “delete” the consumer watchdog, also posted on his social platform X in early February, “CFPB RIP.”
The National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), which represents CFPB workers, sued Vought earlier this month. Shortly after he took over as acting director, Vought ordered employees to halt all work and laid off dozens of staff, sparking fears about the agency’s future.
After the union raised concerns that the administration was preparing to conduct mass layoffs and potentially delete the agency’s data, the DOJ agreed to a court order temporarily barring officials from firing staff without cause and deleting or removing data.
However, the government argued Monday that the court should not grant a longer-term injunction, calling the union’s demands “breathtaking in scope” and contending that the CFPB is still meeting its statutory responsibilities.
