More than 1,400 employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) were dismissed from their roles on Thursday, as part of a wider restructuring under the Trump administration, according to sources quoted by WIRED. The CFPB, an independent government agency, originally had around 1,700 employees.
The large-scale reduction in force occurred nearly a month after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Trump administration from dismissing probationary employees at the CFPB and various other agencies. On Friday, an appeals court determined that the CFPB could resume terminations if “individual assessments” were conducted for each employee. Following these dismissals, approximately 200 employees will remain at the CFPB, dramatically reducing the agency that Elon Musk has previously suggested should be “deleted.”
In communication with CFPB employees on Wednesday, the agency’s chief legal officer, Mark Paoletta, announced a shift in the agency’s focus from supervisory responsibilities to addressing “tangible harm to consumers.” Topics such as medical debt, student loans, consumer data, and digital payments were noted as areas the CFPB will deprioritize.
One of the terminated CFPB employees stated that the dismissals impacted virtually every office, with some being entirely eliminated. The employee expected that, eventually, only a few leadership positions and necessary personnel for basic legal functions would remain.
The CFPB was created by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act in response to the 2008 financial crisis, intended to protect consumers from unfair financial practices. The agency claims to have facilitated $19.7 billion in consumer relief and imposed $5 billion in civil penalties since its inception.
A former CFPB employee alleged that the agency did not adhere to the collective bargaining agreement, failed to follow the Dodd-Frank Act, and did not provide adequate notice of the dismissals.
Figures such as Elon Musk and other conservatives have long called for the abolition of the CFPB. Project 2025, referencing financial regulatory agencies, describes the CFPB as “a highly politicized, damaging, and utterly unaccountable federal agency,” advocating for its dissolution. Musk has further emphasized these views in social media posts.
In February, WIRED reported that three DOGE operatives, including Gavin Kliger and Nikhil Rajpal, were granted access to the CFPB’s human resources, procurement, and financial systems. Bloomberg later reported that these operatives received extended access, including to bank examination and enforcement records, with further requests for access throughout the month.
Emily Peterson-Cassin, the corporate power director at the Demand Progress Education Fund, responded to the staff reductions, urging the public to focus on the actions being taken against the CFPB. She expressed concern that these actions undermine consumer protection efforts, notably leaving defense personnel and the general public vulnerable to fraud and scams while benefiting major financial and tech entities.
Additional reporting was provided by Zoë Schiffer.
