Trump Proposes Two-Thirds Cut to CFPB Workforce

The Trump administration has proposed a revised plan to reduce the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's workforce by about two-thirds, scaling back from earlier efforts that sought to eliminate nearly 90 percent of the agency's staff, according to a court filing submitted Tuesday to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The Justice Department, representing acting CFPB Director Russell Vought, outlined the new restructuring in the filing, which would cut the agency's staff to 556 positions from approximately 1,200 at the end of January. This represents a significant reduction from the 1,723 employees on board when President Trump took office a year ago. The department argued that the plan demonstrates the government does not intend to shut down the CFPB entirely, as a lower court had previously ruled regarding the more aggressive cuts. That earlier injunction blocked mass firings, prompting the administration to seek a limited remand to the district court for reconsideration.

Under the proposed reductions, the CFPB's enforcement division would face an 80 percent cut, dropping to 50 attorneys and staff from 254 a year earlier. The supervision unit,...