Legal Action

The Mayor and City Council of Baltimore and the Economic Action Maryland Fund have sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and its Acting Director Russell Vought to challenge the defunding of the CFPB. Since returning to office in January 2025, President Trump has expressed plans to eliminate the CFPB, and took the unprecedented action of replacing the director of the CFPB with his own appointee, Russell Vought. As Acting Director, Vought issued a stop work order for all CFPB employees and instructed them not to return to the CFPB offices, as well as cut off federal funding for the department entirely. Vought has also taken steps to cancel $100 million worth of CFPB contracts and began arbitrarily firing CFPB employees. The plaintiffs argue that Vought’s decision to sever Federal Reserve funding for the CFPB violates the Administrative Procedure Act by rendering the CFPB unable to fulfill its statutory obligations.

On May 29, 2025, the Plaintiffs filed a notice of voluntary dismissal, citing the Defendants’ representations regarding their inability and lack of intent to transfer funds outside of CFPB control.