I read the June 22 scheduling order in NTEU v. Vought, No. 25-5091, and it’s moving fast: Judge Amy Berman Jackson is weighing whether the CFPB’s preliminary injunction should be modified, suspended, or dissolved, days after the en banc D.C. Circuit’s June 19 limited remand.
The injunction bars the Bureau from mass terminations or reductions in force that would prevent it from carrying out its congressionally mandated functions, generally prohibits terminations except for cause related to individual performance or misconduct, and bars the destruction of CFPB records. The government’s revised Workforce Restructuring Plan, the centerpiece of the remand, would reportedly reduce Bureau staffing from approximately 1,174 employees to approximately 556.
The D.C. Circuit declined to impose a 45-day deadline precisely because it expects Jackson to proceed promptly, as she has throughout this case. Her June 22 order instructs both sides to list all available dates, emphasizing they “must identify ALL of the dates that work for their side” since the court’s calendar is “in constant flux.”
The funding math creates a bind the WRP alone can’t escape. A December 2025 CFPB letter to Congress shows the One Big Beautiful Bill cut the Bureau’s Federal Reserve funding cap from 12% to 6.5% of the Fed’s 2009 operating expenses, reducing the maximum draw from $785 million to $466.80 million. Complying with the existing injunction requires $677.5 million in FY2026. With the new statutory cap well below what the injunction demands, the 556-employee plan has become the only staffing level the revised funding ceiling can sustain.
Jackson’s next scheduling order will clarify hearing dates; she has a complex murder trial starting July 6, so the window is narrow. Whatever she decides, the D.C. Circuit retains jurisdiction and further appellate proceedings are near certain. Worth watching the docket before drafting any workforce restructuring plans this quarter.
Rebecca Lauren