The CFPB announces sweeping job cuts: up to 90% gone

This move is the latest in the Trump administration‘s latest action in cleaning house when it comes to government agencies and their respective employees.

The layoffs come after an email was sent to CFPB staff on Wednesday, which Wall Street Journal’s White House Economic Policy Reporter Brian Schwartz posted on the social media platform X. In the email, CFPB chief legal officer Mark Paoletta outlined the agency’s new focus, noting that it would be shifting its attention away from supervisory roles and toward “tangible harm to consumers.”

The document lists medical debt, student loans, consumer data, and digital payments as topics the CFPB will “deprioritize.” Problems with mortgages will be the agency’s top priority.

Per the Associated Press, employees’ access to agency systems, including email, ends on Friday evening.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau identified your position being eliminated and your employment is subject to termination in accordance with reduction-in-force (RIF) procedures,” the emails said.

The CFPB, established after the 2008 financial crisis and the brainchild of Senator Elizabeth Warren, has faced criticism from the Trump administration, as well as from some in Silicon Valley and on Wall Street, who argue that it exceeds its regulatory authority.

The layoffs follow a contentious period at the agency. In February, acting CFPB Director Russell Vought instructed agency staff to stop all work “unless expressly approved by the Acting Director or required by law.” In early March, CFPB employees were told to continue working on “statutorily required work.”

The CFPB did not respond to HousingWire’s request for comment at the time of publication.