Another big win in the lawsuit we’ve been telling you about to stop the Trump regime from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Three weeks ago, the judge issued a preliminary injunction — meaning that while the case goes forward, the administration cannot shut down the CFPB and must undo actions already taken to dismantle it.

But last Thursday, the administration brazenly tried to all but wipe out the bureau anyway, telling nearly 90% of its employees that their jobs were being eliminated. The lawyers on the case filed an emergency motion that day.

And on Friday afternoon, the judge froze the scheme to radically reduce the CFPB’s workforce, saying there was reason to believe Trump officials were “thumbing their nose” at the court.

Public Citizen’s Wendy Liu, one of the lawyers on the case, said this to national media outlets:

“The Trump administration’s attempt to gut the CFPB must be stopped. The court’s order halting the administration’s attempt at mass layoffs is critical to ensuring that the agency can continue to exist and fulfill its statutorily mandated functions.”

Here’s more about this case:

• In 2008, Wall Street’s reckless greed set off a worldwide financial crisis.

• So Congress, exercising its constitutional authority to regulate commerce, established a new federal agency — the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) — to protect the American people from wrong or unfair conduct by Big Banks and other giant financial institutions.

• Public Citizen played a major role in the creation of the CFPB.

• Since its creation in 2011, the CFPB has recovered billions for everyday Americans and helped create a fairer, more transparent financial marketplace.

• Donald Trump has openly declared his intent to “totally eliminate” the CFPB.

• The Trump administration cannot lawfully dismantle the CFPB — its attempt to do so is in defiance of the Constitution’s separation of powers.

• The attempt to eliminate the CFPB has imposed significant harm on consumers all across the country.

On March 28, the judge issued an order requiring the administration to maintain “the agency’s existence until this case has been resolved on the merits, reinstating and preserving the agency’s contracts, work force, data, and operational capacity, and protecting and facilitating the employees’ ability to perform statutorily required activities.”

Public Citizen is part of the legal team representing the National Treasury Employees Union, CFPB Employee Association, NAACP, National Consumer Law Center, Ted Steege, and Virginia Poverty Law Center in this case.

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