A union representing federal workers filed a pair of lawsuits against Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting Director Russell Vought, asking a court to declare recent actions by him unlawful and to block the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from gaining access to employee information.
The filings by the National Treasury Employees Union come after Vought told staff at the CFPB not to issue any new rules and to stop any new investigations, among other directives. He also sent a letter to the Federal Reserve requesting no money for the CFPB’s third quarter of fiscal year 2025.
“It is substantially likely that these initial directives are a precursor to a purge of CFPB’s workforce, which is now prohibited from fulfilling the agency’s statutory mission,” read one of the lawsuits filed in federal court.
The other alleges that the CFPB has “granted access, and by extension, disclosed employee records to individuals associated with DOGE without employee consent to such disclosure.”
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“These employees face irreparable harm to their privacy interests if their employee information is improperly accessed and/or disseminated by individuals associated with DOGE,” that lawsuit adds. “Once an employee’s personnel information is improperly disclosed, the harm to the employee cannot be undone.”
The lawsuit also cites a union chapter president as saying that members are “concerned that their personnel information will be used to stop, lower, or otherwise modify their salaries and other benefits; to blackmail, threaten, or intimidate them; to prevent them from obtaining future employment; to deny them goods and services such as loans and childcare; in identity theft and social engineering attempts against them; in advertising and marketing directed at them.”
The CFPB did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment from FOX Business.
On its website, the CFPB says it aims to “make consumer financial markets work for consumers, responsible providers, and the economy as a whole.”
“We protect consumers from unfair, deceptive, or abusive practices and take action against companies that break the law,” it says.
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Vought, who is the head of the Office of Management and Budget, was named acting director of the agency on Friday.
“As Acting Director, I am committed to implementing the President’s policies, consistent with the law, and acting as a faithful steward of the Bureau’s resources,” Vought said in an email to colleagues obtained by RealClearPolitics.
However, the lawsuit asks the court to declare that “Defendant Vought’s directive to the CFPB’s employees to stop their supervision and enforcement work is unlawful” and to prevent him from “further attempts to halt the CFPB’s supervision and enforcement work.”
The union also notes that Elon Musk wrote “RIP CFPB” on his X account, and that three members of DOGE have “been added to the Bureau’s staff and email directory as ‘senior advisers,’” despite not being CFPB employees.
“The same day he assumed the role of Acting Director, on February 7, Mr. Vought instructed CFPB staff to grant the DOGE team access to all non-classified CFPB systems,” it said.
The second lawsuit asks the court to block “CFPB from granting access and, by extension, disclosing employee records and information to members of the Department of Government Efficiency, except as required by law.”
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