Salem, Oregon – Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield has sued the Trump administration in a lawsuit with other states to stop efforts to completely defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Russel Vought, the acting director of the agency, decided to stop requesting the Federal Reserve for funding. This would leave the CFPB without money to operate by January 2026.
Rayfield and the coalition say that the funding freeze is a danger to a federal agency that has been important for protecting consumers since it was founded following the Great Recession. The CFPB has given back more than $21 billion to customers across the country in its 14 years of operation. This has helped more than 205 million people who were incorrectly charged or harmed by banks and other financial institutions.
The lawsuit says that cutting off the bureau’s financing will make consumer safeguards far weaker and make it harder for states to enforce their own laws. States use a lot of CFPB complaint data and investigations to find patterns of misconduct, take legal action, and get money back for people. The attorneys general say that the CFPB has to gather and handle consumer complaints and share that information with the states. They also say that not asking for money is against both federal law and the Constitution.
Rayfield pointed to enforcement actions as evidence of the bureau’s impact.
“The CFPB is a watchdog that gets results. Take what happened with Equifax,” said Attorney General Rayfield.
“The credit reporting agency failed to fix errors on people’s credit reports, allowed bad information to resurface, and sold credit scores that weren’t accurate. Those are all mistakes that can keep Oregonians from getting housing, or affordable credit. When powerful companies cut corners, someone has to stand up for everyday people and demand accountability.”
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The complaint also shows how the CFPB is in charge of making sure the biggest banks in the country follow the rules for consumer finance, keeping an eye on them, and gathering important economic data. One example is mortgage lending data collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. States use this data to find and stop unfair lending practices.
The CFPB had 3 million complaints from consumers across the country in 2024, including 8,800 from Oregon. The complaints led to more than $700,000 in direct help for people in Oregon. Rayfield and the group say that getting rid of the agency will make it harder to resolve complaints and keep financial corporations accountable.
The states want the court to stop the administration from making a financing choice and make the CFPB apply for the money it needs to do its job.
Joining Attorney General Rayfield in filing this lawsuit are the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia.
