For Immediate Release: Friday, December 5, 2025
Contact: Patrick Davis, pdavis@citizen.org
San Francisco — Representing Rise Economy, the Woodstock Institute, and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Public Citizen and Rosen, Bien, Galvan & Grunfeld, LLP, today filed a lawsuit challenging an effort by President Donald Trump’s budget chief and acting head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Russell Vought, to shut down the CFPB by starving it of funding.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, the complaint explains that the Trump administration has erroneously reinterpreted the law establishing the CFPB, turning a statutory provision that was meant to create a stable source of funding into one that will be exhausted in a few weeks’ time.
In the face of the manufactured funding crisis, Mr. Vought, in his role as acting head of the CFPB, has begun to take steps to shut down the agency altogether, including transferring away active litigation and developing plans to furlough the bureau’s staff.
The complaint explains that Mr. Vought is required by law to determine the amount “reasonably necessary” to carry out the CFPB’s responsibilities so that the Federal Reserve Board can transfer that amount to the CFPB. The statute gives him no discretion to refuse to make that request. Mr. Vought also bases his refusal to request funds on a clear misreading of the statute providing funding to the CFPB from the Federal Reserve System’s earnings.
“Vought’s new theory attributes to Congress an irrational scheme in which supervision of our nation’s largest financial institutions starts and stops based on the CFPB’s assessment of Fed finances,” said Stephanie Garlock, attorney with Public Citizen Litigation Group and lead lawyer on the case. “The CFPB’s refusal to request funding from the Federal Reserve will cause substantial disruption to the financial institutions and the consumers it seeks to protect.”
“The CFPB has protected American families from financial harm for more than a decade, producing clear rules of the road for every honest actor in the financial system. The CFPB’s good work has provided stability and confidence to the American economy. Undermining that certainty would have dire consequences for everyone,” said Jesse Van Tol, president and CEO of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC). “This administration’s unlawful attempt to void Congressional intent by disingenuously yanking the agency offline would only benefit bad actors to the detriment of honest firms and hardworking families alike.”
“In an environment where predatory lenders and online scammers are becoming increasingly more sophisticated at siphoning money out of consumers’ pockets, the actions of this Administration to shut down the only federal agency charged with protecting consumer’s financial wealth are reprehensible. Simply put, Americans can’t afford another mortgage crisis or for financial predators to go unchecked,” said Horacio F. Mendez, president & CEO of Woodstock Institute. “In our 52 year history, Woodstock has played a leading role in the creation of many consumer financial protection laws that Americans currently enjoy. The CFPB has been a vital partner in our work. The agency’s demise puts the stability of our financial system in jeopardy and directly undermines Woodstock Institute’s work defending consumers from predatory financial practices.”
“This lawsuit is about ensuring the nation’s consumer watchdog has the resources to do the job Congress mandated,” said Paulina Gonzalez-Brito CEO of Rise Economy. “By refusing to request the full funding authorized by statute, CFPB leadership is weakening the very agency entrusted to protect working people from financial abuse and discrimination. When enforcement is stifled, low-income Black, Latino, Asian American, Native, and immigrant families are the hardest hit – communities that have been targeted by financial predators for generations. We’re asking the court to require the Director to follow the law, secure the resources the Bureau is entitled to, and restore its ability to hold powerful financial actors accountable.”
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