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Close to 1,700 workers employed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFFB) have been left in a state of confusion after being ordered to stand down from their work tasks.
The uncertainty began after Russ Vought, recently appointed director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, was confirmed as acting director of the bureau on Friday by President Trump.
Less than two days later, Vought emailed the entire CFPB workforce, telling them not to come to the office Monday and to halt all work-related activities.
Agency employees in no man’s land after ‘stop work’ order
In the memo, Vought confirmed that the bureau’s office would be closed this week.
“Good morning CFPB staff, As you have been informed by the Chief Operating Officer in an email yesterday, the Bureau’s DC headquarters building is closed this week,” he wrote. “Employees should not come into the office… Please do not perform any work tasks.”
Employees were told to contact Mark Paoletta, Chief Legal Officer for the agency, with any urgent matters “to get approval in writing before performing any work tasks.”
“Otherwise employees should stand down from performing any work task,” the email continued.
According to the New York Times, the message left employees uncertain about exactly what behavior was allowed and what would constitute a violation of the order.
Speaking with each other on an encrypted messaging platform set up by the union that represents many individuals employed by the CFPB, workers questioned whether they could communicate with one another over Microsoft Teams, the bureau’s messaging platform, and if they were allowed to read emails.
Workers told the Times that department leaders were unable to field the queries of their concerned colleagues, bereft of knowledge about what the days and weeks ahead will hold.
Some claimed that agecy staff were ordered by senior bosses not to speak publicly on the matter.
CFPB latest to brace for impact of Musk’s DOGE
The bombshell stop-work order leaves the CFBB as the latest government agency to feel the impact of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Last week, DOGE moved swiftly to shutter operations at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with the agency’s workforce expected to drop from 10,000 to 600 workers.
With a mandate to trim $2trillion from the federal government’s $7trillion budget, Musk’s ruthless department has now set its sights on the consumer watchdog agency.
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On Friday, Musk indicated the fate of the department in a post on X that simply read: “CFPB RIP”.
“CFPB has $711M? That money should be returned to taxpayers,” he added in a follow-up post on Monday.
Vought requested a quarterly budget of $0 from the Federal Reserve for the agency, writing that “no additional funds are necessary” for the bureau to fulfill its statutory duties.
“I have learned that the Bureau has a balance of $711,586,678.00 in the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Fund,” Vought informed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.
With work halted and budget cuts likely inevitable, the agency’s workers are understandably anxious about their future and unsure how to respond to the order.
A report by CNBC suggested that the legislation behind the CFPB only protects a few hundred roles, leaving most bureau workers vulnerable to losing their roles.
The fears have been compounded by the arrival of DOGE staffers on the agency’s computer systems. By Monday, half a dozen DOGE-rs had appeared on the CFPB’s internal staff directory, the Times reported.
Despite the looming threat of job cuts, some bureau staff are keeping positive about their future and attempting to rally against the White House’s crackdown on their department.
“It’s been quite a bonding experience,” one agency employee said, while a group of bureau staffers staged a protest outside the empty office on Monday afternoon.
