On July 10, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the parties’ joint motion for a partial stay of proceedings concerning the CFPB’s 2026 reduction-in-force (RIF) plan, pausing the court’s consideration of whether to modify, suspend, or dissolve a preliminary injunction until 60 days after Brian Johnson — the president’s nominee for CFPB director (previously covered by InfoBytes here) — is confirmed or until January 3, 2027, whichever occurs first. The dispute stems from a lawsuit brought by a CFPB employee union and other plaintiffs challenging efforts to shut down the Bureau, which led the district court to issue a preliminary injunction barring the agency’s dismantlement, an injunction the D.C. Circuit initially vacated but kept in place pending en banc rehearing (previously covered here). After the CFPB adopted the 2026 RIF plan on March 31, the en banc court denied the CFPB’s request to implement it immediately but, on June 19, issued a limited remand directing the district court to decide, in the first instance, whether to modify, suspend or dissolve the injunction in light of the new plan (covered here).

Under the terms of the stay, the preliminary injunction remains in effect, and the defendants agreed to continue complying with it. The Bureau’s chief financial officer submitted a declaration confirming that the agency has sufficient funding to comply with the injunction and to maintain its current staffing levels. The court further ordered that the parties file a joint status report within seven days of Johnson’s confirmation or, if he is not confirmed by January 3, 2027, by January 10, 2027. The partial stay applies only to proceedings concerning the 2026 RIF plan, and does not extend to other actions that could affect the agency’s compliance with the injunction, such as a planned return-to-office directive.