Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought has requested $75.8 million from the Federal Reserve for operations of the Bureau in the 3rd Quarter of the government’s current fiscal year (April 1, through June 30, 2026).
That compares with $104.2 million the CFPB received during the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2024, $0 during the 3rd Quarter of Fiscal Year 2025 and $145 million during the 2nd Quarter of the 2026 Fiscal Year. However, the One Big Beautiful Bill enacted last year reduced the CFPB’s funding from 12% to 6.5% of the Fed’s 2009 total operating expenses (adjusted for inflation).
While Section 1071 of Dodd-Frank requires that the amount requested “be reasonably necessary to carry out the authorities of the Bureau under Federal consumer financial law, Vought said in a letter to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell that he is confident that the Bureau could operate on even less money than $75.8 million.
“The number does not reflect the amount that I believe to be necessary for the Bureau to perform its statutory functions,” Vought wrote, in the letter. He said he believes that the Bureau can perform its duties with a “significantly smaller budget.”
Vought said he was making the request in response to a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who has said that massive layoffs and other actions to cut back the Bureau would amount to shutting it down.
The CFPB on March 31 filed a motion to stay the injunction or to remand the case to Judge Jackson to eliminate or modify the preliminary injunction. The CFPB attached to its motion a Workforce Reduction Plan which contains detailed information about its staffing and funding needs for the balance of the 2026 Fiscal Year ending September 30, 2026.