Washington DC—Federal workers and supporters demonstrated outside the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB), an independent government agency empowered with oversight of financial business conduct in the financial sector. Several hundred turned out Saturday morning with just hours’ notice over Elon Musk’s self-described Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) takedown of their agency the day before. The CFPB official government website went dark with a 404 message on Friday.
On Friday morning three young men escorted by security were videotaped entering the CFPB building which is located across the street from the Old Executive Mansion. Whether or not the three young men recorded entering the CFPB were associated with DOGE was not yet confirmed.
The CFPB Federal employees and National Treasury Employees Union 335 (NTEU), the union representing Federal employees of the U.S. Treasury and CFPB identified three DOGE employees were added to the CFPB staff directory on February 7, although they previously had no business with CFPB. NTEU identified the three “DOGE minions” by name in a press release on its website.
DOGE special government employees have been behind the blitzkrieg takeovers of agency after agency the last week, and have been dismantling long-running government institutions with breathtaking speed and damaging results. The DOGE takeovers have come so fast that it is difficult to keep up with the scope and consequences to the agencies that pump the regulatory blood and shepherd it through the administrative veins of the Federal government.
Last night the CFPB government website went dark and with it the access to millions of consumer complaint records maintained in its database. These records are crucial for attorneys to access to assist them build evidence in litigation against dishonest business behaviors, according to Phillip Robinson, a lawyer who spoke on a bullhorn to the protesters about the need for the CFPB to remain intact. Robinson defends consumers against dishonest financial businesses.
As a result of DOGE activities inside CFPB offices, Federal employees and National Treasury Employees Union 335 (NTEU) sprung into action outside CFPB to demand the DOGE self described ‘special government employees’ get out of their computer networks and out of work spaces.
Inside the lobby, locked thick glass doors and windows separated warmth and a lone security guard from 200 protesters standing in the bone biting cold. But the protesters were spirited as passing cars honked in support, their furious voice echoed of the glass of the CFPB and onto the face of the Old Executive Mansion. The guard sat impassively inside, quietly observing the protesters assembled outside. Inside the lobby an improvised hand-written sign reading ‘Trans Rights’ was taped to a desk facing towards the street. It’s message was obviously intended for Elon Musk for his stance against the Trans community.
CFPB: Only Government Agency Providing Financial Protection and Relief for Consumers
The CFPB is the only agency that provides oversight on dishonest businesses and returns money fraudulently taken from consumers through the courts. The CFPB was created in 2011 under authority of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Consumer Protection Act in response to the 2007/8 financial meltdown. It is a bureau of the Federal Reserve.
As of 2024, the CFPB had refunded or canceled abusive debt to 29 million consumers amounting to $19 billion.
An attorney who litigates cases against dishonest businesses spoke of how Friday’s CFPB takeover will hamper litigation against unfair business practices. Phillip Robinson, an attorney who works with Maryland Consumer said that the CFPB not only protects consumers but it also protects honest businesses following the laws and statutes because it holds dishonest businesses accountable.
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau doesn’t just protect consumers it protects honest businesses. The current administration wants dishonest businesses to have a competitive advantage over those that follow the law and I believe in the rule of law.”
Robinson told of how the CFPB helped him litigate cases against dishonest financial companies which had ripped off consumers. “The CFPB has protected Americans by returning monies that were stolen from them. It also protected honest businesses who didn’t cheat and didn’t cross the line.”
Robinson said no other agency was looking out for the financial wellbeing of consumers and honest businesses like the CFPB. “We need an agency that does this because no other agency in government protects honest businesses and consumers at the same time.”
