Two senior officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are leaving after being placed on administrative leave.
Lorelei Salas, supervision director for the agency, and Eric Halperin, enforcement director, are following former CFPB Director Rohit Chopra out the door. Chopra was fired last week by the Trump administration.
Salas and Halperin sent emails to staff, that quickly leaked to the news media.
“The Bureau has been instructed to stand down,” Salas wrote. “I do not believe it is appropriate, nor lawful, to stop all supervisory activities and examinations, and I can no longer serve as the Supervision Director.”
However, Salas' email stopped short of saying she had resigned.
“I don’t believe in these conditions I can effectively serve in my role, which is protecting American consumers,” Halperin wrote. “Today I made the difficult decision to resign.”
GOP vs. CFPB
The CFPB, which was established during the Obama administration, was weakened during the first Trump administration because Republicans said the agency had powers that violated the Constitution.
Under the second Trump administration, the agency is in the crosshairs of the Department of Government Efficiency, which is currently looking for areas to cut. DOGE agents arrived at CFPB’s headquarters last week to begin the audit process.
Acting director Russell Vought has said he would not seek funding for the agency and told the staff to stop all work.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who advocated for the creation of the bureau, spoke Monday at a rally to defend the agency.
“The CFPB is the cop on the beat, and that cop is the one that caught the crooks and, so far, has made them give back $21 billion,” Warren said. “That cop is the one that put that $21 billion right back into the hands of the American people who got cheated.”
Email Mark Huffman mhuffman@consumeraffairs.com