By Douglas Gillison
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering furloughing workers as the agency confronts a funding crunch, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
After President Donald Trump’s White House took control of the CFPB in February, the administration declined to draw fresh funding for the agency and officials have sought to reduce its workforce by about 90%. The administration’s plans for mass firings, however, remain on hold while an employee union and consumer groups challenge them in court, meaning the agency has still had to pay wages to most employees.
Last week, the agency told staff it was contemplating reducing its workforce due to additional funding limits imposed by Congress, saying this would allow the agency to cut jobs without violating the court stay, Reuters reported.
On Thursday, the two sources told Reuters senior leaders are now also considering furloughs, which involve suspending workers without pay. It was unclear what stage furlough plans had reached or what share of CFPB workers could be affected.
Agency staff are worried the CFPB could have insufficient cash on hand to meet payroll and severance costs in the next fiscal year, which begins in less than two weeks, according to multiple people with knowledge of the matter.
Agency representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
The CFPB draws its funding from the Federal Reserve, not directly from taxpayer funds annually doled out by Congress. However, lawmakers this summer reduced the maximum the CFPB may draw to 6.5% of the Fed’s expenses, rather than 12%, reducing the total available to the agency by hundreds of millions of dollars.
CFPB leadership has also tasked contracting officers in recent months with minimizing payouts for goods and services in order to preserve cash for payroll and operating costs, one of the sources said. The agency believes the funding limits imposed by Congress prevent it from seeking additional funds in the 2025 fiscal year which ends this month, the second source said.
(Reporting by Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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