On February 27, Reps. Maxine Waters (D-CA), Ranking Member of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, along with Al Green (D-TX), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, and Bill Foster (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions, submitted a letter to the GAO and OIG of the Fed urging the two agencies to both “investigate the unlawful and unconstitutional efforts to unilaterally eliminate the [CFPB].”

The representatives alleged the “numerous actions” warranted scrutiny under the new leadership, including: (i) the issuance of “stop-work orders” that required CFPB staff to “not perform any work tasks” (covered by InfoBytes here); (ii) the acting director’s decision to immediately decline additional funding of the CFPB (here); (iii) undertaking efforts to reduce the Bureau’s workforce, which they alleged resulted in the firing of approximately 70 probationary and 70-100 term CFPB employees (here); (iv) closing CFPB headquarters (here), canceling contracts (here), and altering the Bureau’s website; (v) permitting immediate access of potentially personally identifiable information to DOGE; and (vi) attempting to dismantle DEI initiatives.

The representatives encouraged GAO and OIG of the Fed to “promptly investigate these developments” and report back with any “recommendations to ensure that the [CFPB] is [fulfilling] its statutory duties and mission.”

Visit our resource center, CFPB Pause: Where From Here?, to stay on top of the latest and what it may mean for the federal and state regulatory and enforcement landscape.