Oregon Judge Becomes Third to Rule Trump Administration Broke Law Starving CFPB of Funds

A federal judge in Oregon ruled on September 28, 2026, that the Trump administration violated the Constitution's separation of powers by refusing to request funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken found that then-Acting CFPB Director Russell Vought's decision to zero out funding requests from the Federal Reserve was unlawful, and ordered the bureau's acting director to resume seeking the money Congress directed it to receive. The suit was led by Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield and 21 other attorneys general, filed after CFPB said in November 2025 it would stop requesting funding altogether.

The decision is the third by a federal court, after earlier rulings in Washington and California, to reject the administration's attempt to shut down CFPB by starving it of money rather than through Congress. Aiken found the administration had tried to "arrogate to itself the 'power of the purse,'" an authority the Constitution reserves to Congress, to disable an agency that has returned over $21 billion to consumers.

The ruling reinforces a March 2026 order that similarly found Vought's funding refusal unlawful. It remains unclear whether the administration will appeal; CFPB stays funded for now under the court's order.