Former Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought takes his seat as he arrives to testify before a US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on his second nomination to be OMB director, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Jan. 15, 2025.
Jemal Countess | AFP | Getty Images
Two senior leaders at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced their resignations the day after acting director Russell Vought instructed all staff to cease working.
In separate memos sent early Tuesday, Lorelei Salas, supervision director for the agency, and Eric Halperin, enforcement director, said they could no longer serve in their respective roles after Vought’s mandate, according to emails obtained by CNBC.
“The Bureau has been instructed to stand down,” Salas said. “I do not believe it is appropriate, nor lawful, to stop all supervisory activities and examinations, and I cannot longer [sic] serve as the Supervision Director.”
The resignations add further to uncertainty at the CFPB, which has been targeted by trade groups and conservatives for years. The agency has aggressively policed financial firms, claiming to return nearly $21 billion to consumers since its creation in 2011. Opponents have said that, under former director Rohit Chopra, the agency reached beyond its legal authority in punishing banks and that his attempts to rein in industry fees would hurt consumers.
CFPB employees have been on edge since operatives of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency arrived at the regulator late last week. Then Vought was named acting director, effective Friday, and he quickly said he would refuse fresh funding for the agency, shuttered its Washington D.C. headquarters, and instructed staff to freeze all bureau work.
“I don’t believe in these conditions I can effectively serve in my role, which is protecting American consumers,” Halperin said, adding that his office secured orders for $9.5 billion in fines or consumer redress since 2021. “Today I made the difficult decision to resign.”
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