Acting Director Vought filed a motion March 31 in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, NTEU v. Vought (No. 25-5091), seeking to lift the injunction blocking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Workforce Restructuring Plan. The plan’s been adopted but can’t take effect until a court clears it.
The plan cuts headcount from 1,174 to 556. Enforcement staff drop from 137 to 50. The Supervision Division shrinks from 350 to 77. The Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity, which Dodd-Frank tasks with oversight, enforcement, and annual congressional reporting, would retain four employees.
Vought’s financial argument is direct: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act capped CFPB transfers from the Federal Reserve at 6.5% of its 2009 expenses, down from 12%, limiting FY2026 funding to $466.8 million. The agency says it needs $677.5 million to comply with the current injunction. By Q4 2026, it won’t have enough cash.
Vought also cites Trump v. CASA, Inc., 606 U.S. 832 (2025), arguing the Supreme Court’s limits on universal injunctions require Judge Jackson to reconsider whether her order goes beyond the relief necessary for the named plaintiffs.
If the D.C. Circuit agrees, CFPB exams on non-depository institutions drop from 61 in 2024 to 22 in 2026, covering less than 0.5% of roughly 5,000 such institutions.
Plaintiffs’ reply brief is due April 17.
James Okafor