House Democrats join legal fight against Trump's efforts to dismantle consumer protection agency
House Democratic leaders are getting directly involved in one of the legal battles against the Trump administration, filing an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit seeking to block the dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
House Democratic leaders are getting directly involved in one of the legal battles against the Trump administration, filing an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit seeking to block the dismantling of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
In the brief, which was shared first with NBC News, top Democrats argue that President Donald Trump’s attempt to shutter the CFPB creates significant and irreparable harm to consumers, violates the law and undermines the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.
“Defendants’ stop-work order will have severe consequences for the American people. The CFPB has been a resounding success,” the lawmakers wrote in the brief, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington. “It has delivered more than $21 billion back to consumers who have been defrauded by entities like large banks, loan servicers, debt collectors, and payday lenders, some of which were previously not subject to federal supervision. ... Defendants have now stopped these congressionally mandated activities in their tracks.”
Rep. Maxine Waters of California, the top Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, is leading the effort in conjunction with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., Assistant House Democratic Leader Joe Neguse of Colorado and Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. So far, more than 175 House Democrats have signed on to the brief.
Amid Elon Musk’s chaotic blitz on the federal workforce, acting CFPB Director Russell Vought issued a series of directives this month suspending much of the agency’s activities. The National Treasury Employees Union, which represents about 155,000 federal employees, then sued Vought over his actions, calling them unlawful. On Monday, there will be a hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for an indefinite pause on the halt in CFPB activities.
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