Employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said the Trump administration is planning to "wind down" the agency, the Hill reported, citing court filings.
All but five employees are set to be terminated, according to court documents obtained by The Hill.
"On multiple occasions, staff were told by Senior Executives that ‘the writing was on the wall' and that ‘it was all over but the terminations,'" said one employee, identified by the pseudonym Drew Doe. "One Senior Executive said that CFPB will become a 'room at Treasury, White House, or Federal Reserve with five men and a phone in it."
The Trump administration has denied it is planning to close the agency. The Justice Department, in a court filing obtained by The Hill, noted that Trump recently nominated Jonathan McKernan to serve as director of the CFPB.
"The predicate to running a 'more streamlined and efficient bureau' is that there will continue to be a CFPB," the DOJ said.
The National Treasury Employees Union filed a lawsuit after Acting Director Russell Vought ordered staff to stop all work, let go of 100 employees, and closed the agency's headquarters, the Hill reported. A federal judge initially ruled in favor of the union, blocking officials from firing employees without cause.
A judge's ruling blocked more termination notices from being sent out, one employee said in a filing.