Russ Vought orders Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop work
CBSN
The Trump administration late Saturday ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an independent government agency designed to protect consumers from corporate fraud and scams, to halt much of its work, amid an ongoing overhaul of the federal bureaucracy.
In an email to CFPB staff Saturday, Russ Vought — the newly confirmed director of the Office of Management and Budget and acting head of the CFPB — directed employees not to issue any proposed or formal rules, stop pending investigations and not open new investigations, halt all stakeholder engagements and abstain from issuing public communications, among other things. Vought wrote in the email, obtained by CBS News, that he was making the directive "as a faithful steward of the Bureau's resources" and committed to implementing Mr. Trump's policies.
The development came after Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, gained access to the CFPB and began a thorough review. Two sources directly familiar with the review told CBS News that DOGE representatives gained access to the internal systems, including personnel rolls and financial records of the agency in recent days. According to the federal union representing some of CFPB's employees, Musk deputies were added to the agency's email directory and "spotted in the CFPB building" last week.
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The remains of a man who disappeared more than 20 years ago when he was on his way to his family's cabin have been found inside a submerged car in a Utah reservoir.
An AI-generated video depicting celebrities — including Scarlett Johansson, Jerry Seinfeld and Adam Sandler — protesting Ye's antisemitic comments has gone viral online, prompting criticism from Johansson over the "misuse of AI," regardless of its message.
Washington — A group of advocates led by the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Wednesday asking a federal court to quickly require the Trump administration to give the migrant detainees it is holding at Guantanamo Bay access to lawyers.
A Russian cybercriminal and crypto fraudster will be sent back to Moscow as part of a prisoner swap that on Tuesday brought American Marc Fogel home after more than three years in Russian custody.
Washington — At least one U.S. citizen who was being detained in Belarus was released Wednesday, the United States' top hostage negotiator said.
Washington — The Senate voted to advance Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday, teeing up a final vote on his confirmation later this week.
Washington — President Trump said Wednesday that he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and directed members of his national security team to "immediately" begin negotiations aimed at ending Russia's war with Ukraine.
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New York — PBS says it is shutting down its office of diversity, equity and inclusion to comply with President Trump's executive order and firing the two executives brought on when the effort was begun in 2021.