TRENTON, N.J. — A federal judge has rejected an effort by the Trump administration to withhold funding from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, handing a victory to a multistate coalition co-led by New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport.
U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken in Oregon ruled Friday that the CFPB must seek the funding necessary to continue operating, rejecting the administration’s interpretation of the federal law governing the agency’s funding. The court found former acting CFPB Director Russell Vought’s decision not to request funding from the Federal Reserve was unlawful.
New Jersey was among 22 states and the District of Columbia that filed a lawsuit in December 2025 challenging the administration’s effort to cut off funding for the consumer watchdog.
“The affordability crisis continues. Instead of addressing that crisis, the Trump Administration attempted to kneecap a crucial watchdog agency that prevents corporations from lawlessly imposing hidden fees and misleading terms,” Davenport said. “The court’s order tells Vought to do what the law requires: fund the CFPB.”
The dispute stemmed from a position taken by the administration in November 2025 that the CFPB could only receive funding from Federal Reserve “profits.” Vought asserted that no such profits existed and decided not to request funding for the agency.
The coalition argued that refusing to seek funding for the CFPB violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution. The court concluded Vought’s decision was unlawful and violated the Constitution’s separation of powers.
Created in the aftermath of the Great Recession, the CFPB regulates financial institutions and consumer financial products, enforces federal consumer protection laws, collects economic data and handles consumer complaints. It also supervises the nation’s largest banks for compliance with federal consumer financial protection laws.
States, including New Jersey, use CFPB consumer complaints and data in their own investigations and enforcement actions. State attorneys general also have partnered with the agency on nationwide consumer protection cases.
According to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, the CFPB has returned more than $21 billion to more than 205 million consumers during its 14-year existence.
The agency also collects demographic and geographic mortgage lending information under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, which states can use when investigating potential discriminatory lending practices.
Davenport co-led the lawsuit with the attorneys general of New York, Oregon, Colorado and California. Attorneys general from Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin, along with the District of Columbia, also joined the case.
