On March 28, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to reinstate and preserve the agency’s contracts, workforce, data, and operational capacity and to continue all activities required by law.

As the Court explained, the CFPB and its acting director “were fully engaged in a hurried effort to dismantle and disable the agency entirely... in complete disregard for the decision Congress made 15 years ago, which was spurred by the devastating financial crisis of 2008 and embodied in the United States Code, that the agency must exist and that it must perform specific functions to protect the borrowing public.” The Court found that its order was necessary because “there is a substantial risk that the defendants will complete the destruction of the agency completely in violation of law well before the Court can rule on the merits, and it will be impossible to rebuild.”

This outcome is tremendous not only for the nation’s consumers, to whom the CFPB has returned over $26 billion through its crackdowns on illegal activities, but also for the DC community that Tzedek DC serves. Tzedek DC’s amicus (friend of the court) brief detailed how Tzedek DC relies on the CFPB's rules, regulations, and services when representing clients, tracking national trends, engaging in systemic advocacy, and educating both our staff and partners and members of our client community.

In its decision, the Court noted that it “had the benefit” of Tzedek DC’s amicus brief, a brief from 203 members of Congress, and a third from the District of Columbia and 21 states. Tzedek DC’s brief was the only amicus filed by a nonprofit organization.

Although we celebrate this ruling, the fight is not over. The federal government has already appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, and even after the appeal, the underlying case may proceed to discovery and further litigation on the merits. Tzedek DC will continue to fight for the CFPB's survival and the ability of its workers to do their jobs.

Tzedek DC is grateful to the brave plaintiffs and counsel who filed the lawsuit and to Kaiser PLLC, which served as co-counsel on Tzedek DC’s amicus brief.

The Court's opinion is here.

Tzedek DC’s earlier update about its amicus brief is here.

Tzedek DC’s amicus brief is here.

About Tzedek DC

Tzedek DC’s name is drawn from the ancient Jewish teaching “Tzedek, tzedek tirdof,” or “Justice, justice you shall pursue.” Headquartered at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law and with an office in Ward 8, Tzedek DC’s mission is to safeguard the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with lower incomes facing the often-devastating consequences of debt collection and credit-related obstacles. This mission is carried out as anti-racism work in response to the massive wealth gaps tracking race in DC and nationwide. Tzedek DC seeks to serve and empower our client base, which is comprised of 90% Black people, 60% women, and 25% disabled community members. Our strategic approach combines three synergistic activities: (i) free direct services—legal representation and advice and financial counseling; (ii) working in coalition to make systemic change; and (iii) providing bilingual community legal education on debt collection, identity theft, and credit management.