From the Washington Examiner: A federal appeals court panel lifted a lower court’s order Friday that blocked the Trump administration‘s efforts to fire most employees from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit voted 2-1 to vacate a preliminary injunction by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, which prevented mass layoffs aimed at restructuring the watchdog agency for consumer finance. Judge Gregory Katsas, an appointee of President Donald Trump, wrote the majority opinion for the panel, arguing the unions and other groups that sued to block the plans to dismantle the agency lacked jurisdiction to do so.
“If the plaintiffs’ theory were viable, it would become the task of the judiciary, rather than the Executive Branch, to determine what resources an agency needs to perform its broad statutory functions,” Katsas wrote. “Such pervasive judicial control of agency administration falls well beyond limited [Administrative Procedure Act] review.”
The appeals court sent the case back down to the federal district court for further proceedings. The majority ruling was joined by Judge Neomi Rao, who was also appointed to the appeals court by Trump. Judge Cornelia Pillard, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, was the lone dissenter on the panel.
The ruling will allow the Trump administration to proceed with plans to downsize the federal agency, after U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, an Obama appointee, blocked the efforts back in March.
🚨 BREAKING: The Trump administration just won in court again.
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals just lifted an Obama-appointed district court judge’s injunction on the dismantling of Elizabeth Warren’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau pic.twitter.com/lUWFbuqajn
— CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) August 15, 2025
Democrat Rep. Maxine Waters (Calif.), the Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, is already fuming, and released a statement Friday afternoon.
“This ruling opens the door for the mass layoff of hundreds of dedicated civil servants who have spent their careers fighting day in and day out to protect hard-working American families from financial fraud and abuse, including servicemembers, veterans, older adults and students,” she claimed.
“Make no mistake, this is a gift-wrapped handout to the big banks and shady predatory lenders who’ve spent years trying to kill the CFPB so they can continue preying on consumers without fear of consequences,” Waters raged.
Ranking Member @RepMaxineWaters‘ statement following a federal appeals court ruling allowing President Donald Trump to resume the mass firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (#CFPB) and continue shuttering the Bureau.
READ: https://t.co/fy5OOY3N7e pic.twitter.com/N0BiJjhtrH
— House Committee on Financial Services – Democrats (@USHouseFSC) August 15, 2025
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