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CFPB leaders and Elon Musk DOGE planned to fire nearly all staff

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Elon Musk holds up a chainsaw onstage during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, U.S., February 20, 2025. 

Nathan Howard | Reuters

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau‘s Trump-appointed leadership plans to fire nearly all its 1,700 employees while “winding down” the agency, according to testimony from employees.

In a trove of statements released late Thursday, federal employees said that the mass layoff was discussed in meetings they attended this month with senior CFPB leaders and members of Elon Musk‘s so-called Department of Government Efficiency.

“My team was directed to assist with terminating the vast majority of CFPB employees as quickly as possible,” said an employee identified as Alex Doe, a pseudonym used out of fear of retaliation.

Doe said the plan from CFPB leaders and DOGE was to cut the bureau’s workforce in three phases. It would first eliminate probationary and term employees, then carry out a wave of about 1,200 layoffs, leaving a skeleton crew of a few hundred workers.

“Finally, the Bureau would ‘reduce altogether’ within 60-90 days by terminating most of its remaining staff,” Doe said.

The worker’s testimony comes at a crucial time for the CFPB, the agency created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis caused by irresponsible lending. Since DOGE operatives first arrived at the CFPB this month, the bureau has shuttered its Washington headquarters, initiated the first round of layoffs, and told those who remain to stop nearly all work.

The filings were made in the case started by CFPB’s union that suspended acting CFPB Director’s Russell Vought’s moves to shutter the bureau. After CFPB fired about 200 probationary and term employees, Vought’s actions were put on hold until a March 3 hearing.

The Trump administration’s plan was to take the CFPB down to the barest minimum staffing required under law: five CFPB employees would remain, either in a standalone office or folded into another regulatory body, the workers testified.

In meetings between Feb. 18 and Feb. 25, “staff were told by Senior Executives that the CFPB would be eliminated except for the five statutorily mandated positions,” said another current CFPB employee, this one identified as 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,'” Doe said.

The employees said that, if directed to by the court, they would provide their names and titles under seal.

This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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T. Rowe Price likes stock picking now

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One of the largest active ETF managers on leveraging fund tactics in new ways

It appears T. Rowe Price is benefitting from the record growth in actively managed exchange traded funds.

Tim Coyne, the firm’s head of ETFs, reports the firm is seeing significant growth in the area — listing the T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF (TCAF) and T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF (TSPA) as two established strategies that can satisfy investor demand.

“I think having that professionally managed portfolio is really beneficial to clients,” Coyne told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” this week. “We’re seeing just… greater volatility [and] uncertainty across both the equity and fixed income markets.

According to Coyne, the T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF suits investors who are looking for long-term growth.

“The objective of the fund is to outperform the S&P 500 with lower volatility and greater tax efficiency,” he said. “It’s also a more concentrated portfolio, typically holding around a hundred names.”

As of April 24, the fund’s top holdings include Microsoft, Amazon, and Apple according to the T. Rowe Price website. But it’s not all Big Tech. The ETF also features smaller positions in companies like Becton Dickinson and Roper Technologies.

The T. Rowe Price Capital Appreciation Equity ETF is down about 5% so far this year while the S&P 500 is off about 7% However, the ETF is up close to 8% over the past year — roughly identical to the S&P 500’s performance.

Coyne notes the T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF follows a similar strategy, but with a heavier weighting in top tech stocks.

“This is more of a large-cap growth product [T Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF],” he said. “There are components of characteristics of both passive and active here. This fund is actually managed by our North American directors of research. So again, strong fundamental research is going into the stock selection.”

Both the T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF and S&P 500 are down around 7% since the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, the fund is up almost 9% over the past year. That’s less than one percent better than the S&P 500’s performance.

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T. Rowe Price U.S. Equity Research ETF vs. S&P 500

‘Some form of bear market’

Strategas Securities’ Todd Sohn thinks investment demand for active managers will continue to be strong.

“This is the type of the environment where it [active management] can actually shine,” the firm’s senior ETF and technical strategist said. “We are in some form of bear market. This is where the active manager really can come into hand and offer their solution they are doing right.”

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