WASHINGTON—At a hearing Monday, a federal judge pressed the Trump administration on whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was fulfilling its legally mandated duties. The administration's responses remained unclear.
Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia expressed skepticism over the government’s assertion that Acting Director Russell Vought’s near-total shutdown of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was a standard procedure during presidential transitions, Bloomberg Law reported.
Her concerns were partly in response to sworn declarations from Adam Martinez, the CFPB’s chief operating officer, who told the court that certain units, including consumer response, remained operational despite the shutdown efforts. The CFPB COO submitted his statements as part of litigation filed by the National Treasury Employees Union, the National Consumer Law Center, the NAACP, and others challenging Vought’s stop-work orders. The NTEU represents many CFPB employees, Bloomberg Law said.
Declarations submitted by the plaintiffs directly contradicted Martinez’s statements that the agency was carrying out its mandatory functions, such as answering and transmitting consumer complaints, Bloomberg Law said.
“We can’t have edicts issued with people’s fingers crossed behind their backs,” Jackson said at the hearing.
Martinez will have to appear for an evidentiary hearing on March 10 at 10 a.m.
The plaintiffs will also be required to provide their own witnesses who can discuss whether the CFPB’s complaint response team, student loan ombudsman’s office, and natural disaster response unit—all of which were mandated by the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act—are still operating, Jackson said at the hearing, Bloomberg Law said.
The judge also ruled that a consent agreement between the plaintiffs and the government, preventing the CFPB from carrying out mass employee terminations and data destruction, would remain in effect until she decides on the preliminary injunction requested by the union and its co-plaintiffs, Bloomberg Law said.