By Douglas Gillison
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A federal judge on Friday halted the mass firings carried out Thursday afternoon at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, saying she was deeply concerned that the Trump administration had violated court orders setting conditions on dismissals.
On Thursday, the agency fired between 1,400 and 1,500 workers, eliminating as much as 90% of its workforce.
A witness statement filed Friday morning also accused senior officials and an administration official associated with billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency of disregarding the court’s orders. The witness said a DOGE member also demanded staff work a 36-hour shift without breaks and verbally abused staff.
An appeals court last week ordered that firings at the CFPB could only occur after a “particularized assessment”.
Mark Paoletta, the CFPB’s chief legal officer, said in a sworn statement that the agency had followed court orders and had conducted a detailed assessment of staffing needs. This evaluation found that the agency’s resources significantly exceeded both its needs and legal authorities, he said.
The White House and CFPB did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
President Donald Trump and Musk have called to abolish the agency, accusing it without providing evidence of politicized enforcement and waste, but administration officials have said in court the CFPB will persist in some form.
“I am deeply concerned given the scope and speed of the agency’s action…about whether the agency is now in compliance with the preliminary injunction,” U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said during a hearing called after Thursday’s dismissals.
Jackson ordered that Thursday’s mass dismissals be suspended pending a decision on whether the government is in violation of her order. She said CFPB employees would not lose access to computer systems on Friday evening, as agency leadership had told them in Thursday’s notices of dismissal.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Douglas Gillison in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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