The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau expects to run out of funding in early 2026, the Trump administration wrote in a court filing this week, effectively sounding the death knell of the agency Republicans have been attempting to dismantle for years.
The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel said the CFPB cannot lawfully draw Federal Reserve funds, claiming there are no profits to take from, in a Monday night court filing.
That puts the future of the CFPB in the hands of Congress. The Office of Legal Counsel memorandum directs the agency to get additional funding through the congressional appropriations process, an outcome that seems unlikely as Republicans, who slashed CFPB funding nearly in half in their budget law, get the upper hand in shutdown negotiations. The continuing resolution currently on the table does not mention funding for the CFPB.