Trump administration reverses course on Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

WASHINGTON, Jan 9 (Reuters) — Citing a court order, the Trump administration said on Friday it will fund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with $145 million, a reversal that ends an 11-month battle that pushed the consumer watchdog toward insolvency.

President Donald Trump’s budget director, Russell Vought, has requested funding from the Federal Reserve, according to a letter filed in federal court on Friday. The move came a month after a federal judge rejected the administration’s argument that it was legally barred from drawing funds from the central bank, which supplies the agency’s budget.

A spokesperson for the Fed declined to comment. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the past, the Fed has always supplied the requested funding.

The Trump administration this year has alternated between moving to shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau entirely and reducing it to a fraction of its former size. Top officials have accused it of politicized enforcement and burdening free enterprise, charges the agency’s supporters and staff reject.

The about-face marks another setback for the administration’s efforts to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau following an appeals court decision last month that threw out an earlier decision that would have allowed agency leadership to proceed with...