New acting director tells Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to suspend most operations

In a memo obtained by Scripps News, newly confirmed OMB Director Russell Vought announced he has been made the acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and will suspend most of its operations.

The CFPB is an independent government agency responsible for rules and oversight that protect the public when working with banks, debt collectors and other financial firms. It sets rules for credit cards, mortgages and student loans to ensure consumers are treated fairly.

At the time of writing, portions of the CFPB's website had been removed and were no longer available.

In the memo, Vought put a halt to nearly all of the agency's work, including investigation, enforcement and rule making. Agency contracting and litigation was suspended and Vought told the agency to cease communication with the public, in accordance with direction from President Donald Trump.

"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 wrote in the memo.

Vought later posted on social media that the CFPB would not receive its next round of federal funding because it was "not 'reasonably necessary' to carry out its duties."

Republicans have repeatedly sought to curb the CFPB's responsibilities and powers, whether by eliminating its budget in Congress or by filing briefs in support of lawsuits that challenge the agency's funding.

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Vought, who was confirmed as the head of the of the White House Office of Management and Budget in a party-line Senate vote last week, is a contributing author to Project 2025, a conservative plan to overhaul the government. That agenda considers the CFPB unconstitutional and also calls for its dissolution.