The lobby of the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau headquarters as a worker removes belongings from the building in Washington on Feb. 9.
Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/BloombergDOGE-Backed Halt at CFPB Comes Amid Musk’s Plans for ‘X’ Digital Wallet
Government-efficiency team’s initial ‘read-only’ access expanded quickly to encompass closely guarded data, internal emails say.
In another weekend takeover of a federal agency’s operations, staffers from an efficiency initiative led by billionaire Elon Musk helped to effectively shut down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau — as they gained access to an array of the bureau’s protected information.
The actions began last Thursday, when four young staffers working under Musk for the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, showed up at CFPB’s Washington headquarters. At first, they had what was described as read-only access to a limited array of documents, including the agency’s internal personnel files, procurement records and budgeting and financial data, according to an email shared among CFPB officials.