'There's Power in Fighting Back': Court Battle Halts Purge of Consumer Agency

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. announced Friday that the Trump administration has agreed to halt its mass firings at a consumer protection agency, refrain from defunding it, and retain "vast troves" of data while a legal battle plays out.

The National Treasury Employees Union, Public Citizen Litigation Group, and Gupta Wessler LLP sued on Thursday, after employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) began getting termination notices earlier this week as part of Republican President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk's purge of the federal workforce.

Reuters reported that "in court on Friday afternoon, union representatives had said they believed the government was planning to eviscerate the CFPB, possibly as soon as the same day, beginning the process of dismissing all remaining staff, canceling the agency's lease, and returning its funds to the Federal Reserve."

In a brief order, U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson explained that under a deal reached at the Friday conference, the agency and acting Director Russell Vought "shall not terminate any CFPB employee, except for cause related to the specific employee's performance or conduct" nor "issue any notice of reduction-in-force to any CFPB employee."

Jackson, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, wrote that the bureau and its acting director also cannot:

• transfer money from the CFPB's reserve funds, other than to satisfy the ordinary operating obligations of the CFPB;
• relinquish control or ownership of the CFPB's reserve funds, nor grant control or ownership of the CFPB's reserve funds to any other entity;
• return any money from the CFPB's reserve funds to the Federal Reserve or the Department of Treasury; or
• otherwise take steps to reduce the amount of money available to the CFPB below the amount available as of 4:00 pm on February 14, 2025, other than to satisfy the ordinary operating obligations of the CFPB.

Additionally, the agency and Vought—who formally leads the White House Office of Management and Budget—"shall not delete, destroy, remove, or impair any data or other CFPB records covered by the Federal Records Act," according to the judge.

Celebrating the order on social media Friday, attorney Deepak Gupta said that "we had credible reports" a reduction in force—the government term for layoffs—was coming at the agency long targeted by Republicans and "data destruction was imminent."

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—the former law professor who first proposed and then helped build the CFPB—also welcomed the development on Friday while blasting Trump and Musk, who heads the president's so-called Department of Government Efficiency and has a direct interest in destroying the CFPB.

"A judge just blocked Elon Musk and co-president Donald Trump from firing the financial cops at the CFPB who protect consumers from Wall Street scams," Warren said on the Musk-owned platform X. "There's power in fighting back."

As Government Executive reported Friday:

Jackson will hold a hearing on March 3 to determine whether to issue a longer-lasting preliminary injunction on the Trump administration's moves.

Another federal judge acted similarly to restrain the administration's efforts at the U.S. Agency for International Development, where such an order will remain in effect at least through Feburary 21. The agency had placed virtually all of its employees on administrative leave and had ordered its staff abroad to abruptly return home, but the judge unwound both of those actions.

The development in the D.C. court followed another deal on Thursday to prevent the Trump administration from defunding the CFPB. That case was filed by Democracy Forward on behalf of the city of Baltimore and the Economic Action Maryland Fund.

"The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau protects all Americans from predatory and discriminatory practices. It has returned $20 billion back to the American public, yet again, it is unfortunate we have had to resort to litigation to protect this consumer watchdog," Democracy Forward president and CEO Skye Perryman said Thursday. "We are pleased the government has agreed to keep its hands off the bureau's funding until the court can hear this case."