Today, House Financial Services Committee, Ranking Member Maxine Waters (CA-43) and leaders of the Litigation and Rapid Response Task Force, House Assistant Minority Leader Joe Neguse (CO-02) and House Judiciary Committee, Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (MD-08), issued the following statement after a federal judge blocked efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB):

“House Democrats have taken our fight against Trump’s lawless and unconstitutional actions to the courts—and today we won. This is a major victory for American consumers and for those targeted by predatory lenders and bad actors. It’s a powerful example of the good of the people prevailing over the interests of the wealthy and well-connected.

“We were proud to lead the charge with huge numbers of Democrats in the House on this matter, and we remain committed to ensuring that Trump and Musk are stopped whenever they trample the Constitution, the rule of law, and the rights of the people.”

More than 200 House Democrats got involved in the case in question, pushing back against attacks on the CFPB and defending American consumers in court by filing an amicus brief in the matter of National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU), et al. v. CFPB Acting Director Russell Vought, et al. Their argument was cited multiple times throughout the federal judge’s 112-page ruling issued Friday, March 28, 2025.

Additional information on the House leaders amicus brief can be found HERE.

Background:

Congresswoman Waters led this amicus brief with over 200 Democrats in defending the Consumer Bureau, and she has taken a litany of other actions  in recent weeks to combat the shutdown, including:

• On February 7, Congresswoman Waters and Congressman Bill Foster led 79 House Democrats in a letter to former Acting Director Bessent, demanding he immediately reverse his decision to freeze critical enforcement actions and delay key consumer protection rules.
  
  
• On February 8, Congresswoman Waters released a fact sheet to inform Musk, Members of Congress, and the American public about the crucial role of the CFPB. The fact sheet also detailed how DOGE's plan to shut down the CFPB will harm working-class families.
  
  
• On February 8, Congresswoman Waters issued a statement blasting Musk’s takeover of the CFPB and highlighting Musk’s plan to gut the CFPB to shield his upcoming payments platform from being regulated by the CFPB.
  
  
• On February 8, Congresswoman Waters led a social media campaign with Congressional Democrats, flooding social media platforms with information about the valuable work carried out by the CFPB and the harm that would result from gutting the agency.
  
  
• On February 9, Congresswoman Waters joined MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart to further sound the alarm on Musk’s illegal takeover of the CFPB and emphasize the devastating impact that dismantling the agency would have on American families.
  
  
• On February 10, Congresswoman Waters stood with Democratic Members of Congress, CFPB staffers, and consumer advocates outside of the agency headquarters to demand answers and accountability after Acting Director Vought ordered a shutdown of the agency, forcing employees to stay home and halting critical consumer protection work. Waters condemned these reckless actions and called for transparency on how the administration plans to safeguard consumers.
  
  
• On February 12, Congresswoman Waters and Congressman Bill Foster sent a letter to Acting Director Vought, sounding the alarm on his recent request for $0 from the Fed to fund the CFPB’s operations for the third quarter of the fiscal year. Waters and Foster highlight that this is not only unlawful, but also a clear step toward fulfilling Project 2025’s directive and Musk’s promise to eliminate the CFPB.
  
  
• On February 12, Congresswoman Waters and Senator Elizabeth Warren led 143 members of the House and 46 Senators in sending a letter to Acting Director Vought and Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent calling on them to remove Musk’s operatives from the CFPB, restore all internal and external systems and operations, and allow the CFPB to continue to do its job of protecting American consumers.
  
  
• On February 12, during a full Committee hearing with the Chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, Ranking Member Waters and Committee Democrats detailed how Musk’s plan to kill the CFPB would destroy the economy.
  
  
• On February 14, Congresswoman Waters led key lawmakers in a letter to the Acting Director demanding clarification on the agency’s compliance with the Trump Administration’s illegal executive order aimed at dismantling DEIA offices and related federal initiatives, which undermines federal law.
  
  
• On February 14, Congresswoman Waters and key lawmakers sent a letter to our nation’s financial services agencies denouncing Trump’s unlawful attack on diversity and inclusion and calling on agencies to uphold the statutory diversity and inclusion obligations under the Dodd-Frank Act.
  
  
• On February 12, Congresswoman Waters sent a letter to Chairman Hill urging the Chair to immediately convene a hearing with CFPB Acting Director Vought on the agency’s semiannual Monetary Policy Report. Under Dodd-Frank, the CFPB Director is required to testify before the Committee on its semiannual report. However, the Committee failed to hold a hearing following the agency’s semiannual report last December, making this hearing overdue and especially urgent, given Musk’s takeover of the CFPB.
  
  
• On February 19, Congresswoman Waters launched a webpage asking employees and members of the public to share their CFPB success stories. These stories will be compiled and used by Democratic Members of Congress to highlight the CFPB’s impact and emphasize just how detrimental gutting this agency would be.
  
  
• On March 7, Congresswoman Waters issued a statement in response to the Trump Administration dropping pro-consumer lawsuits.
  
  
• On March 19, Congresswoman Waters sent a letter to Acting Director Vought following the CFPB’s unlawful order to stop the agency’s anti-discrimination work.
  
  

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