Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has joined 21 other state attorneys general in a lawsuit against U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and others, seeking to prevent the defunding of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The lawsuit aims to stop actions that would leave the CFPB without funding by January 2026.
The CFPB, which was created after the 2008 financial crisis, is responsible for regulating financial institutions and products to protect consumers. Over its 14-year history, it has returned more than $21 billion to over 205 million Americans. In Minnesota alone, more than 46,000 consumer complaints have been filed with the agency from 2022 through 2025.
Attorney General Ellison stated, “I have strongly supported the CFPB, as both Attorney General and a member of Congress, from the time it was just a concept through now, and I don’t intend to stop. Attorneys general have broad powers in state and federal law to protect consumers, and I use all the tools available to me, but we need a national arm focused on protecting consumers from a wide range of financial predators and harms, as the Great Recession and subsequent mortgage crisis showed us far too painfully. The CFPB has provided billions in release to millions of Americans over the last 14 years, so it comes as no surprise that the billionaires in charge of the White House want to gut it and line their pockets instead. I’m banding together with attorneys general to keep that from happening.”
The lawsuit argues that Vought’s refusal to request funding from the Federal Reserve is both unlawful and unconstitutional. According to Ellison and his counterparts, this decision violates legal requirements for collecting consumer complaints and providing data that states rely on for consumer protection efforts. Without this support from CFPB, states’ ability to investigate wrongdoing or secure restitution for affected individuals could be severely hindered.
Ellison’s participation follows his prior advocacy for maintaining CFPB operations: he co-sponsored legislation establishing the agency in Congress in 2011; joined an amicus brief opposing attempts by former President Trump’s administration to defund it; and published opinion pieces warning against efforts led by Donald Trump and Elon Musk targeting its funding.
The group of attorneys general joining Ellison represents Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont,and Wisconsin.
If successful,the lawsuit would require federal officials not onlyto continue requesting funds for CFPB,but also ensurethe agency can fulfillits responsibilities mandated by law.
