Two top leaders of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were removed from their roles Tuesday — in the first staffing cuts as President Trump’s team begins an ambitious effort to gut the 1,700-person agency, The Post has learned.
Enforcement director Eric Halperin and supervision director Lorelei Salas were placed on administrative leave by Mark Paoletta, the top lawyer at both the CFPB and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
Halperin, who made remarks seen as defying orders from Trump’s aides to pause all work, resigned six minutes after receiving an email informing him that he was being placed on leave “effective immediately.”
“I write to provide notice of my resignation… Since the building is closed, please provide instructions on how to return my equipment,” Halperin responded to the leave email. “Thank you for the opportunity to serve. It was an honor.”
Salas also reportedly resigned, though The Post’s sources could not immediately confirm it.
The entire CFPB workforce was ordered Monday by acting director Russ Vought to “not come into the office” and to “get approval in writing before performing any work tasks.”
Paoletta warned the staff in a Monday email that they were not to do anything relating to enforcement and that “[f]ailure to abide by these instructions constitutes insubordination and we will take appropriate personnel action.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who briefly served as acting CFPB director before Vought, issued similar instructions earlier this month, after which Halperin wrote, “These limitations do not apply to pending litigation (e.g. discovery),” Politico previously reported.
Halperin, who made remarks seen as defying an order from Trump’s aides to pause all work, resigned in response to being placed on leave.
Both Halperin and Salas worked in the past with Democratic billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Foundations — Halperin as a senior adviser and Salas as a fellow, according to biographies on the CFPB website.
