A panel of three judges in the Court of Appeal issued a ruling in a divisional decision, with one judge objecting.
On April 28, the federal court of appeals lifted an earlier order that allowed the Trump administration to implement workforce cuts at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
On April 11, the Court of Appeals partially stayed with the provisional injunction issued by the District Court, allowing the CFPB to continue firing workers if it found that “specific assessments” were not essential to the institution’s legal obligations. However, the court banned the administration from enforcing a suspension order in government agencies.
In the split ruling, a three-judicial panel of judges regarding the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals lifted partial stays amid discussions regarding the meaning of the “specific assessment” requirement.
“The parties will vehemently challenge whether this language is “identified” for the issue and whether RIF’s eligible employees are allowed to judicially review questions about whether they are “necessary for the defendant’s performance of legal duties.”
According to the order, a “specific assessment” is defined as a decision that each department or office within the CFPB can fulfill its legally necessary obligations without employees eligible for dismissal.
Judge Neomi Rao opposed that the district court’s injunction raised concerns about “separation of power” and interfered with the administration of the government’s federal agency.
“The district court has taken an excessive step in our stay. Rather than remedying judicial errors, today’s order orders the enforcer and prevents the CFPB from preventing downsizing until the merits of appeal are resolved,” Rao said in his dissent.
The Epoch Times reached out to CFPB for comments but did not receive a response by publication time.
In February, the National Treasury employee union sued Russ Vought, director of the Management and Budget and acting director of the CFPB. The union accused the Trump administration of violating the separation of power in the country by moving to dismantle the agency without Congressional approval. Several other groups joined the lawsuit in complaints that were amended a few days later.
On March 28, US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson issued a preliminary injunction, blocking administrators from firing CFPB employees and enforcing the suspension order at their agency.
“If the accused is not prohibited, before the law has the opportunity to determine whether or not they will allow it, they will eliminate the agency and, as the defendant’s own witness warned, the harm will be irreparable,” Jackson wrote in her opinion.
The CFPB was established by law in 2010 in response to the 2008 financial crisis. According to the agency’s website, CFPB “implements and implements federal consumer finance laws to ensure that the market for consumer financial products is transparent, fair and competitive.”
Elon Musk, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, previously said on social media platform X, that agencies are “duplicate” and should be eliminated.
Jacob Berg and Sam Dorman contributed to this report.
