WASHINGTON—The CFPB is preparing to furlough most of its workforce on Dec. 31, agency officials told employees, marking the most dramatic step yet in the Trump administration’s effort to wind down the Bureau’s operations.
The move would sideline thousands of CFPB staff even as the agency prepares to shift all remaining litigation to the Justice Department—an action driven by the Administration’s decision to stop drawing the Federal Reserve funding that statutorily supports the Bureau. While earlier attempts to lay off nearly the entire CFPB workforce have been tied up in court for much of the year, furloughs are not subject to the same restrictions as the layoffs temporarily barred under the recent government-funding deal, Government Executive said.
Mike Salemi, acting head of CFPB enforcement, told staff he understood that all employees would be furloughed at year’s end, with the 170 staffers in his division already marked for unpaid leave. Other offices, however, had not received confirmation as of Thursday evening. Salemi said his information originated from Victoria Dorfman, an OMB associate general counsel who also serves as a senior legal advisor at the CFPB, Government Executive said.
The Justice Department in September created an Enforcement and Affirmative Litigation Branch within its Civil Division, which Salemi said was the likely landing spot for the bureau’s cases beginning in 2026.
The Bureau previously issued reduction-in-force notices to roughly 88% of its staff in April, a move temporarily blocked by a federal judge before an appeals court allowed the RIFs to proceed pending further review. Those notices were formally rescinded, but the furlough announcement signals the administration intends to press forward with its plan to largely shutter the bureau’s operations heading into 2026.