Litigation

In a packed courtroom, a federal judge parsed whether the Trump administration's aggressive actions to rein in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are part of a "normal" transition of power or would impede its statutorily required functions.

Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said the Founding Fathers supported independent money management and undoing it now would be a mistake.

At a court hearing on Monday, lawyers for the Trump administration said statutorily required work is being done by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, while the union claimed the government is trying to shut the agency down.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's decision to no longer pursue its enforcement action against the credit reporting bureau marks the eighth lawsuit dropped by the agency in recent days.

The union representing Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees said in a court filing that the Trump administration's actions to reduce the agency's workforce and cut spending violate the law.

The Justice Department said in a legal brief that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will continue to exist, but said instead that the agency will have fewer employees and a reduced budget under the Trump administration.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson agreed to temporarily block the Trump administration from firing more CPFB employees and said the White House could not delete or destroy any of the bureau's data or databases.

Consumer and employees groups are seeking a restraining order against CFPB acting Director Russell Vought, arguing that he was unlawfully installed and has "no power to direct" the bureau.

The mayor and city council of Baltimore, along with a Maryland-based economic justice group, are suing the bureau and its acting director, claiming that the recent decision to "defund" the CFPB will leave it unable to support communities.

Acting Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Russell Vought ordered bureau employees to "stand down" and perform no work, effective immediately.