A labour union has filed lawsuits against Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting director Russell Vought after he ordered staff to halt much of the watchdog's activities.
On Saturday, days after replacing fired director Rohit Chopra, Vought sent an email to CFPB staffers telling them to cease all supervision and examination activity and stakeholder engagement, and to pause all pending investigations.
The National Treasury Employees Union has quickly responded with a suit asking a judge to block Vought's directives.
"CFPB employees have been placed in questionable status as they have been directed not to work but they have also not been formally placed on any authorized type of leave," says the filing. "It is substantially likely that these initial directives are a precursor to a purge of CFPB’s workforce, which is now prohibited from fulfilling the agency’s statutory mission."
It has filed a separate suit asking a judge to block Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing employee information.
On Friday, Musk posted “CFPB RIP” with a tombstone emoji on X. X is planning on introducing a payments service later this year, while Musk has claimed the platform will eventually offer a range of financial services. Last year, the CFPB finalised a rule to supervise tech giants that offer digital payment apps and wallets.
According to the suit, three Doge-affiliated staffers were onboarded into the bureau's internal communications system, with Vought telling employees to give the Doge team "access to all non-classified CFPB systems".
"These employees face irreparable harm to their privacy interests if their employee information is improperly accessed and/or disseminated by individuals associated with Doge," the lawsuit says. "Once an employee’s personnel information is improperly disclosed, the harm to the employee cannot be undone."
Over the weekend, Vought announced on X that he had informed the Federal Reserve that the "CFPB will not be taking its next draw of unappropriated funding because it is not ‘reasonably necessary’ to carry out its duties".
The CFPB has secured more than $21 billion in various forms of consumer relief from firms. Senator Elizabeth Warren says Vought's orders are "giving big banks and giant corporations the green light to scam families".