The Trump administration is requiring nearly all Consumer Financial Protection Bureau staff members around the country to work out of a new office in Washington, a move that some employees fear is a stealth reduction-in-force plan.<\/p>\n
The four-part return-to-office plan will begin June 1 with operations staff setting up a new office<\/a> in Southwest DC, according to a Wednesday email to CFPB personnel obtained by Bloomberg Law.<\/p>\n The roughly 650 employees stationed within 50 miles of Washington will be required to report to the new office beginning July 13 and the remaining 450 spread around the country will have to show up by Aug. 31, according to the email. While the CFPB will review accommodation requests, \u201cdecisions will not be based on the convenience of the employee,\u201d the email said.<\/p>\n But the new office only has room for around 550 CFPB employees, which matches a reduction-in-force plan the agency submitted<\/a> to the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in March. The CFPB\u2019s return-to-office plan repeatedly states that it will be \u201csubject to available office space.\u201d<\/p>\n The plan doesn\u2019t indicate what will happen if workers don\u2019t report to the Washington office or are denied accommodation requests, but there\u2019s a widespread belief among agency employees that many will resign or be terminated and that the plan is designed to get around a potential court hold on the CFPB\u2019s RIF proposal, according to multiple people familiar with the situation who requested anonymity to discuss internal conversations. <\/p>\n The CFPB\u2019s union, a chapter of the National Treasury Employees Union representing most CFPB employees, said the return-to-office plan is illegal and part of acting CFPB Director Russell Vought\u2019s long-term effort to \u201cdrive workers out of public service and close the CFPB.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cInstead of pardoning corporate criminals and shrinking CFPB\u2019s nationwide presence to just Washington, D.C., we demand a CFPB that values its workers and prioritizes serving all Americans,\u201d Cat Farman, the union\u2019s president, said in a statement.<\/p>\n The CFPB under Vought\u2019s leadership has voluntarily dismissed<\/a> about 20 lawsuits brought by previous administrations, closed<\/a> about 40% of its pending investigations, and terminated or watered down previously finalized settlements on fair lending and other issues,.<\/p>\n The NTEU says telework has been a boon to the federal workforce without harming government operations. The union this month asked<\/a> the Office of Personnel Management to allow for increased telework to blunt the impact of rising gas prices on federal workers.<\/p>\n The CFPB didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n Office Shutdown<\/p>\n CFPB employees were instructed to stay home<\/a> after Vought took over in February 2025. Vought made the agency\u2019s previous headquarters near the White House off-limits to career employees, although many political appointees have been working there. <\/p>\n The lease on the original CFPB headquarters has been terminated, according to the agency\u2019s Wednesday email.<\/p>\n The CFPB under Vought also closed<\/a> its regional offices, but it still had employees spread around the country, with the highest concentrations in California, New York, Illinois, and Texas, according to OPM data<\/a>. <\/p>\n CFPB examiners are also typically based out of regional offices so they can visit banks with over $10 billion in assets, payday lenders, debt collectors, and other companies under agency supervision. But the CFPB has curtailed the number of examinations it\u2019s undertaking and shifted to virtual<\/a>, rather than in-person, reviews.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear whether CFPB examiners will be subject to the return-to-office requirement. The CFPB in its email said it will consider whether to exempt \u201chard to fill positions that directly impact the Bureau\u2019s mission, statutory authority and\/or execution of the Administration\u2019s agenda.\u201d<\/p>\n Vought and his team will also be reviewing all reasonable accommodation requests that were previously granted, according to the email.<\/p>\n Court Oversight<\/p>\n Whether the CFPB will be able to implement its return-to-office plan may come down to the DC Circuit.<\/p>\n