CFPB staff purge begins with dozens of employees terminated

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sent termination notices to several dozen employees late Tuesday, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

The affected staff were mostly those with probationary status, said the people, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly after orders to stop all agency work, including speaking with reporters.

Being on probation means the employee is in a trial period, often lasting a year or two, after starting a new government position, and does not reflect performance, the people said.

The move comes amid a broader effort under President Donald Trump to trim federal staff. The Office of Personnel Management asked federal agencies for lists of all recently hired workers because they are the easiest to terminate, NBC News has reported. That has stoked fears of layoffs at places as disparate as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Environmental Protection Agency.

CFPB staff have been on edge since late last week, when operatives of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency gained access to the agency. The CFPB headquarters have since been shuttered, while employees were told by acting CFPB director Russell Vought not to do any bureau work. Both Musk and Vought have called for the elimination of the CFPB.

The terminations have sowed more confusion at the bureau, as several of those being laid off had already accepted federal buyout offers, said one of the people.

Some being dismissed received form letters that did not include their specific names and titles, but left some fields filled with generic placeholders, said this person.

The terminations hit the CFPB’s enforcement division in particular because of a push under former director Rohit Chopra to boost hiring of enforcement lawyers, said another person. The agency had about 1,700 employees before the job cuts.

The CFPB declined to comment.