Consumer Protection Workers Survived DOGE Attacks through Quick Mobilization

Federal workers and unions have proven to be a bulwark defending the rule of law and vital public services during President Trump’s second term. Our union at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is a case in point.

It has been a year since Chapter 335 of the National Treasury Employees Union started its campaign to stop the Trump administration from illegally dismantling the Bureau and firing its workers.

Last February, fresh from ransacking USAID, Trump, Russell Vought, and Elon Musk turned their sights on destroying the CFPB, an agency created by Congress in 2010 to protect Americans from another global financial crisis. The agency has secured more than $21 billion in consumer redress since its founding.

“CFPB RIP,” Musk tweeted. Vought, as acting director of the agency, ordered staff to stop all work, closed CFPB’s office buildings, summarily fired more than 200 public servants, and started cancelling every vendor contract.

If everything had gone according to plan, Vought would have terminated the agency’s remaining 1,500 employees by the end of his first week, and the CFPB’s short but impactful existence would have come to an unceremonious end.

Fortunately for the rule of law and every American cheated by the financial sector, very little went according to plan. The CFPB has not (yet) been totally “dismantled” like USAID was. The swift and persistent actions of its unionized workforce saved the CFPB from that fate, although it has been diminished.

RAPID RESPONSE

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.

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Many rallies and legal proceedings have followed in the year since that first harried week in February, but a court injunction, currently being reviewed by the full D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, reinstated fired workers and continues to block Vought from firing staff and closing the agency.

KEYS TO SUCCESS AND CHALLENGES

The union’s efforts have succeeded for a number of reasons. First, recent (successful) campaigns for better pay and more flexible work conditions had already established critical campaign infrastructure, developed leaders and skills, and demonstrated the power of organizing.

Second, leadership on the chapter’s executive board and committees maintained strong membership engagement and solidarity.

Third, active internal communications channels, including Slack, newsletters, and town halls, worked well to share information to and from members. Committees built new Slack channels and protocols to better organize and coordinate the work, occasional newsletters turned into weekly newsletters, and town halls went from monthly to twice weekly.

But the union has faced challenges along the way. We haven’t always been able to maintain energy and enthusiasm through a long campaign with periods of high intensity followed by stretches of waiting. We also struggled to maintain public interest and attention during the stretches of extended status quo. Social media campaigns have helped fill the void.

At times, our existing infrastructure from internal-facing campaigns has proven ill-fitted to this largely external-facing campaign. We’ve had to adapt and be open to trying new things, but it’s not always easy to identify or admit what isn’t working.

THE AFTERMATH AND ROAD AHEAD

Despite the union’s success, Vought’s control of the CFPB has caused tremendous damage. His sidelining of supervision and enforcement staff has turned an agency that used to return nearly $3 to consumers for every $1 it spent into one that cost Americans an estimated $19 billion by rolling back consumer protections and pardoning corporate malfeasance.

His efforts to put staff “in trauma” and his labor law violations have contributed to more than 500 workers leaving the agency. That loss of talent and expertise is a huge blow to the public we serve.

But the damage could have been even worse. Much of the agency’s infrastructure is still intact. Its supervision of financial companies may be restarting after a year’s hiatus.

The remaining staff are still committed to protecting consumers, and they will continue to fight tooth and nail to preserve and strengthen the CFPB, including by calling on Congress to impeach Vought and reverse a budget cut that was buried in Trump’s big beautiful tax cut for wealthy special interests.

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.

Tyler Creighton is a member of CFPB Union NTEU 335.