Press Releases

Washington, D.C. — Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee Jamie Raskin (MD-08), in conjunction with Assistant Leader Joe Neguse (CO-02), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters (CA-43), House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), and the Litigation and Rapid Response Task Force, led an amicus brief joined by 198 House Democrats in defense of American consumers and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in the matter of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), et al. v. CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought, et al. before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. 

As the House leaders described in their amicus brief, President Trump has already imposed significant and irreparable harm on consumers across the country. In seeking to “shut down” CFPB, President Trump wants to eliminate the agency that protects Americans from unfair, deceptive, and abusive corporate practices, giving even more power to his corrupt billionaire friends serving as top advisors.  

“After the 2008 financial crisis, Congress created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to protect Americans against fraud by large banks, loan servicers, debt collectors, and payday lenders. As the first agency of its kind solely devoted to keeping American consumers safe from being cheated by big financial corporations, the CFPB has delivered $21 billion dollars back to more than 205 million Americans. But Trump and Elon Musk have illegally tried to shut down the CFPB, including investigations of more than 300 consumer complaints against Musk’s companies,” said Ranking Member Raskin. “How can Elon Musk be collecting $38 billion in government contracts, loans, subsidies, and tax credits, with billions more on the way when he’s working to shut down agencies that guard the American people against frauds, scams, junk fees and other deceptive practices? The richest man in the world, swimming in taxpayer money, should not be dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. We’re working to save it.”

“The series of unlawful and unconstitutional actions initiated by the Trump Administration during its first month in office blatantly disregards Congress’s vested constitutional authority as the Article I branch of government and seeks to delete agencies and operations that provide critical protections for American citizens. Allowing unelected, unaccountable individuals unchecked authority to sensitive consumer and industry information now threatens the pocketbooks and life savings of hardworking families and individuals across the country,” said Assistant Democratic Leader Neguse. 

“Following the 2008 crisis, millions of families lost their jobs, homes, and entire life savings. All the while, the wealthy executives responsible for the crisis rewarded themselves handsomely with excessive pay and bonuses. This is precisely why myself and other members of Congress got to work to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,” said Ranking Member Waters. “Unfortunately, what we are seeing right now from the Trump Administration is the culmination of a 15-year effort to systematically and illegally gut the consumer bureau and block the agency from doing crucial work to take on the megabanks and predatory lenders that are ripping off hard-working Americans, all in an effort to further enrich themselves off the backs of hard-working families. I am proud to lead this amicus brief with my Democratic colleagues in the House and I remain confident that the Court will uphold the law.” 

“Donald Trump and Elon Musk have made it their mission to destroy the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an agency that stands up for everyday Americans. House Democrats are aggressively pushing back. The CFPB was created by an act of Congress to protect the economic well-being of hardworking taxpayers and victims of unfair practices. Only Congress has the power to close the agency. I am grateful for the leadership of Rep. Maxine Waters as well as the efforts of the Litigation Working Group as we fight to protect consumers and hardworking American families. House Democrats are intervening in the court case because we strongly support the work of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the agency’s effort to put money back in the pockets of the American people. Onward to victory,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. 

In the brief, the House Democratic leaders noted that recent actions toward the CFPB, the “consumer watchdog agency,” including the implementation of sweeping stop-work orders and plans to arbitrarily fire most employees, represent a blatant disregard for Congress’s role and express directives. These actions are in clear violation of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, as well as the Constitution’s mandate that the laws be faithfully executed.

As the CFPB is the only federal agency dedicated solely to protecting American consumers in the financial marketplace, the lawmakers also underscored the threat to key operations that provide relief from a wide range of unlawful practices costing hardworking families billions. These include rulings promoting small business lending transparency, curbing excessive overdraft fees, and preventing medical debt from limiting creditworthy borrowers’ access to credit.

The amicus curiae also referenced reports that President Trump and unelected and unaccountable members of his team have access to sensitive consumer data and critical systems within the CFPB.

The full amicus brief is available HERE. 

The brief, in conjunction with the Litigation and Rapid Response Task Force, was led by Ranking Member Maxine Waters (CA-43), House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (NY-08), Assistant Leader Joe Neguse (CO-02), and Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and was also signed by Representatives Clark, Aguilar, Adams, Amo, Ansari, Auchincloss, Balint, Barragán, Beatty, Bell, Bera, Beyer, Bishop, Bonamici, Boyle, Brown, Brownley, Budzinski, Bynum, Carbajal, Carson, Carter, Casar, Case, Casten, Castor, Castro, Cherfilus-McCormick, Chu, “Chuy” García, Cisneros, Cleaver, Clyburn, Cohen, Conaway, Connolly, Correa, Courtney, Craig, Crockett, Crow, Davis, Dean, DeGette, DeLauro, DelBene, Deluzio, DeSaulnier, Dexter, Dingell, Doggett, Elfreth, Escobar, Espaillat, Evans, Fields, Figures, Fletcher, Foster, Foushee, Friedman, Frost, Garamendi, R. Garcia, S. Garcia, Gay Scanlon, Goldman, Gomez, Goodlander, Green, Grijalva, Hayes, Himes, Holmes Norton, Horsford, Houlahan, Hoyer, Hoyle, Huffman, Ivey, Jackson, Jacobs, Jayapal, H. Johnson, Jr., J. Johnson, Kamlager-Dove, Kaptur, Keating, Kelly, Kennedy, Khanna, Krishnamoorthi, Landsman, Larson, Latimer, S. L. Lee, S. Lee, Leger Fernández, Levin, Liccardo, Lieu, Lofgren, Lynch, Magaziner, Mannion, Matsui, McBath, McBride, McClain, McClellan, McCollum, McDonald Rivet, McGarvey, McGovern, McIver, Meeks, Menendez, Meng, Mfume, Min, Moore, Morelle, Morrison, Moskowitz, Moulton, Mrvan, Mullin, Nadler, Neal, Norcross, Ocasio-Cortez, Olszewski, Omar, Pallone, Panetta, Pappas, Pelosi, Peters, Pettersen, Pingree, Plaskett, Pocan, Pou, Pressley, Quigley, Ramirez, Randall, Riley, Rivas, Ross, Ruiz, Salinas, Sánchez, Schakowsky, Schneider, Schrier, D. Scott, R. Scott, Sewell, Sherman, Sherrill, Simon, Smith, Sorensen, Soto, Stansbury, Stanton, Strickland, Subramanyam, Suozzi, Swalwell, Sykes, Takano, Thanedar, Thompson, Thompson, Titus, Tlaib, Tokuda, Tonko, N. Torres, R. Torres, Trahan, Tran, Turner, Underwood, Vargas, Veasey, Velázquez, Vindman, Wasserman, Watson Coleman, Williams, and Wilson. 

Additional Information

On February 9th, 2025, the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) sued Trump Administration officials for the unlawful dismantling of the CFPB. The following day, among an agreement with both parties, the judge entered an agreed order barring the defendants from firing employees, issuing reduction-in-force notices, destroying CFPB data or records, or defunding the agency while the case proceeds. 

A hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for an indefinite pause to the agency's dismantling is scheduled for Monday, March 3rd, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.