On February 13, a union representing CFPB employees and other organizations filed an amended complaint and an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, concerning actions taken by the CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought.

The amended complaint, which updated the complaint filed on February 9 (covered by InfoBytes here) alleged that Vought’s actions — halting all CFPB operations, canceling over $100 million in vendor contracts, firing approximately 70 probationary employees, and planning further mass layoffs that could eliminate over 95 percent of the Bureau’s workforce — aim to dismantle the CFPB. The amended complaint argued these measures “exceed executive authority” and “usurp legislative authority conferred upon Congress by the Constitution” and should be enjoined.

In the emergency motion for a TRO, the plaintiffs seek an “administrative stay to prevent any action to categorically fire CFPB employees before the Court has a chance to assess the merits of this case” and an order to lift the directives ceasing CFPB operations.

A February 14 declaration by the former Chief Technologist and Senior Advisor to the Director at the CFPB, in support of the plaintiffs’ motion, alleged the CFPB may soon delete “databases holding the CFPB’s data” and that such action risks the loss of important CFPB data. The declarant asserted the Bureau’s data is important to enforce federal consumer protection laws, which included sensitive information such as supervisory records, enforcement actions, consumer complaints, and market research. The declarant argued such a loss would have “catastrophic effects,” including incapacitating the Bureau’s public-facing obligations and disrupting its ability to investigate consumer protection law violations. According to the declaration, the deletion of data could also “impair the Bureau’s ability to identify risks and respond to emerging threats within the financial system,” potentially destabilizing markets.

At a hearing on February 14, the CFPB agreed to halt or not undertake the following actions until the outstanding motion is briefed and argued on March 3: (i) delete, destroy, remove, or impair any data or other records covered by the Federal Records Act; (ii) terminate any CFPB employee, except for cause related to performance or conduct; (iii) issue any notice of reduction-in-force (RIF) to any CFPB employee; (iv) transfer money from the CFPB’s reserve funds or relinquish or grant control of such funds to any other entity; (v) return any reserve funds to the Fed or Treasury; and (vi) otherwise take steps to reduce the funds available to the CFPB below the amount available on 4:00 p.m. on February 14, other than to satisfy ordinary operating obligations.