MARCH 2025 - Upper Makefield resident and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) employee recounts DOGE take over of CFPB

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was established by Congress in the wake of the devastating financial crisis 0f 2008. The CFPB’s sole mission is to protect American consumers from illegal and discriminatory financial practices. Since its creation, the CFPB has returned over $21 billion to Americans, including $363 million to service members and veterans, who were harmed by illegal and discriminatory actions by banks and financial companies. On February 7, Trump installed OMB Director Russell Vought as the new Acting Director of the CFPB. Vought is a principal author of Project 2025, which aims to “abolish” the CFPB. Immediately thereafter, Elon Musk’s DOGE staff accessed CFPB headquarters and its computer systems which include vast amounts of highly confidential personal and financial information Musk recently partnered with Visa to enter the payments markets, a move that would bring X (formerly twitter) under CFPB’s oversight. Vought quickly commanded Bureau employees “not [to] perform any work tasks.” He also threw CFPB employees out of their offices, cancelled leases, and voided $100 million in contracts, leaving the agency dormant and millions of consumers without protections from fraud and abuse. Next, on February 11th and 13th, Vought illegally fired hundreds of highly qualified CFPB employees through generic form termination emails (complete with errors). Reports indicate Vought plans to fire over 95% of the Bureau’s employees through another mass firing and effectively close the CFPB. Finally, on February 27, Vought moved to dismiss numerous CFPB enforcement cases, including one against Capital One that alleged over $2 billion dollars in harm to American consumers. While a federal court has temporarily halted additional the CFPBs terminations and scheduled a crucial hearing for March 3, it is clear that Trump, Musk, and Vought will stop at nothing in their efforts to destroy the CFPB leaving American consumers without recourse from financial harm. We urge you to stand with American consumers and CFPB employees. Please immediately call Congressman Fitzpatrick, Senator McCormick, and Senator Fetterman and tell them to fight for the CFPB and stop the unconstitutional and illegal efforts to destroy it.