An employee tasked with implementing the firings of hundreds of staffers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau testified in court Tuesday that she believed the plan to dismantle the agency was still on — appearing to undermine a narrative set forth by the Justice Department a day earlier.
The employee, who testified under the pseudonym Alex Doe out of fear of retaliation, said she attended meetings last week where her team, along with officials at the Office of Personnel and Management, discussed how they would implement Phase 2 of a plan to wind down the CFPB. That step would come after a Phase 1, during which an initial 1,200 employees would be fired, Doe said, but mass terminations are on pause under a court order in the case.
The testimony comes in a case brought by a federal employee union and other groups to challenge President Donald Trump’s efforts to dissemble the bureau, which was created by Congress after the 2008 financial crisis and has long been in the crosshairs of conservatives.
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Doe’s testimony countered the picture painted by CFPB Chief Operating Officer Adam Martinez, who spoke as a witness for the administration Monday and Tuesday. Martinez — who is Doe’s supervisor — testified that the Department of Government Efficiency had acted aggressively over one week in early February to try to dismantle the agency. But he said those efforts had been slowed down by political appointees, namely acting CFPB head Russ Vought and legal adviser...
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