Overview
- The Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel concluded that the Federal Reserve currently lacks “combined earnings,” making CFPB transfers unlawful under 12 U.S.C. § 5497.
- In court notices, DOJ said the bureau anticipates exhausting its available resources in early 2026 and that Acting Director Russell Vought will prepare the required funding report to the President and congressional appropriators.
- The CFPB says it can operate through at least December 31, 2025, but a funding lapse would trigger Antideficiency Act restrictions that pause most enforcement, supervision, rulemaking and routine operations.
- Federal judges and the Texas attorney general have previously rejected surplus‑only readings, and the Supreme Court upheld the CFPB’s overall funding structure last year.
- The funding stance accompanies broader moves to shrink the agency, including stop‑work directives, plans to lay off most staff now tied up in litigation with the NTEU, and pending D.C. Circuit action on en banc review.