Unlike with USAID, the Trump administration and its Department of Government Efficiency no longer had the element of surprise when Musk signaled that the CFPB would be next.
We knew the DOGE playbook and the importance of rapid mobilization. Within 24 hours of Musk’s tweet, union members were picketing in front of CFPB headquarters and alerting the public to the risk that DOGE would mishandle or misuse sensitive consumer and industry data maintained by the CFPB.
We educated ourselves about our rights and obligations if given an illegal order from a supervisor. By the end of the weekend, we had sued Vought in federal court.
The pace only accelerated from there. Hundreds rallied in DC on the Monday following Vought’s stop work order, and many returned two days later to protest the first wave of illegal firings.
We fostered solidarity by developing resources and raising funds for our fired colleagues. Several committees quickly formed and people contributed where they could: coordinating with our attorneys; establishing internal and external communications channels; connecting with congressional allies, consumer advocates, and other federal unions; organizing public events; researching our rights if the administration pursued legal layoffs; and much more.
Insider reports from staff with knowledge about Vought’s frenetic attempt to “wind down” the CFPB and fire nearly all employees by the end of his first week began to circulate among union members and to our attorneys. Those reports proved essential to securing court orders against Vought’s continued destruction of the CFPB without congressional authorization.
Court filings and testimony later demonstrated that Vought’s team was furiously pressuring HR staff to issue layoff notices right up until the minute of the court’s order. Without the union’s legal maneuvers and the courage of former and current employees to share what they knew about Vought’s efforts to close a federal agency, the CFPB’s future might have been bleaker.
Continued advocacy and vigilance is surely needed, but after what we all witnessed at USAID, few could have predicted that the CFPB would make it this far. I, for one, thank my fellow union members for that. Solidarity, and consumer protection, forever.
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