CFPB Orders Return to Office, Reassigns Nationwide Workforce to Washington
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has announced plans to end most telework arrangements and require employees to report to a new headquarters in Washington, D.C. Critics say that the move could trigger a new wave of departures and further shrink the agency’s workforce.
Under the plan, approximately 450 employees currently living outside the Washington region will be reassigned to the bureau’s new headquarters. Employees within 50 miles of Washington will be required to return to the office full time beginning July 13, while employees located elsewhere in the country must relocate by August 31 or risk disciplinary action. The CFPB stated that exemptions will be limited and “will not be based on the convenience of the employee.”
The return-to-office directive comes as Acting Director Russell Vought continues efforts to significantly reduce the bureau’s size. CFPB leadership is currently seeking court approval for a workforce reduction plan that would cut staffing from roughly 1,100 employees to 556. Notably, the bureau’s new headquarters reportedly has space for about 550 employees, nearly identical to the staffing level in the proposed reduction-in-force plan.
Employee representatives and labor advocates argue the relocation requirement functions as a de facto downsizing strategy by forcing workers to choose between moving to Washington or leaving the agency. The National Treasury Employees Union, which is challenging the CFPB’s workforce reduction plans in court, called the relocation effort an attempt to “drive workers out of public service” and further weaken the agency.
The Bureau has already undergone significant contraction since President Trump began his second term, with staffing falling from roughly 1,750 employees at the end of the Biden Administration to about 1,100 today. CFPB leadership has also terminated regional office leases, scaled back supervision and enforcement activities, and sought authority to implement broader layoffs. The legality of those actions remains the subject of ongoing litigation before federal courts.
Observers note that the return-to-office order could become another point of contention in the CFPB’s ongoing legal battles, particularly if courts view the policy as an indirect attempt to accomplish workforce reductions that have thus far been blocked by judicial injunctions.
