Questions emerge over Vought’s authority as CFPB acting director’s term nears limit

For the past 16 months, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) acting director Russell Vought has moved aggressively to scale back the agency’s enforcement and regulatory activities, even as questions have mounted over how long he can legally remain in charge.

Vought, who is the current head of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), was named acting head of the CFPB in February 2025, a position that has a 210-day limit set by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA).

Shortly after taking the position, Vought moved to suspend most of the CFPB’s operations, closed the agency’s headquarters and said he would halt its funding.

In April 2025, the Trump administration moved to dismiss roughly 90% of the CFPB workforce, triggering a court fight that temporarily blocked the layoffs. In August, a federal appeals court panel allowed the reductions to proceed, leading to the dismissal of about 1,500 employees.

Two months later, during an appearance on The Charlie Kirk Show, Vought voiced his intentions to shut down the agency altogether.

In November 2025, President Donald Trump nominated Stuart Levenbach, an associate director at the OMB, to serve as CFPB director. Critics, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), said the move could allow Vought to remain in charge beyond the 210-day limit set by the FVRA, since the clock is paused while a nomination is pending.

Once a nomination is pending, however, the acting official may continue to serve while the Senate considers it. If the nomination is rejected, returned or withdrawn, the 210-day clock resets from that action.

A CFPB spokesperson had described the nomination to HousingWire as a “technical” step to extend Vought’s tenure.

August deadline looming

On Jan. 3, the Senate returned Levenbach’s nomination to Trump without taking action, a procedural move that allows Vought to remain at the agency’s helm through Aug. 1.

“When this 210-day round expires in August, Vought likely has to step aside. Otherwise, his actions at the CFPB likely would be void if he tried to remain in the acting director role,” said Colgate Selden, a shareholder at Baker Donelson and a founding attorney for the CFPB.

In the days since Levenbach’s nomination was returned, the CFPB, under Vought’s direction, finalized a rule to amend Regulation B, which implements the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), a 1974 civil rights law designed to prevent discrimination in lending.

The final rule eliminated disparate-impact liability under ECOA, restricted how lenders can signal discouragement to applicants, and imposed tighter limits and conditions on Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCPs), especially those using protected characteristics.

In a lawsuit filed last week against the CFPB and Vought, several fair housing groups — including the National Fair Housing Alliance and Rise Economy — sought to block the Regulation B changes and challenged Vought’s authority in enacting the rule. They argue he has not been lawfully appointed to lead the agency since he has not been confirmed by the Senate.

“Mr. Vought has been purporting to act as Director since February 2025, but he has never been confirmed by the Senate, and none of the circumstances contemplated by the Federal Vacancies Reform Act apply,” the lawsuit reads.

In a response to the suit, Vought defended the changes.

“One Hallmark of the second Trump administration has been the eradication of discriminatory race-based policies that have permeated every aspect of government under the banner of ‘diversity equity and inclusion,’” Vought said.

“The administration of fair lending laws is no exception. As acting Director of the CFPB, I am taking steps to correct how the Equal Credit Opportunity Act is enforced. This law was intended to eradicate discrimination in lending, not encourage new forms of discrimination, which it did under the Biden administration.”

Who’s next in the line of succession?

The CFPB did not respond to HousingWire‘s requests about Vought’s leadership status or duration.

“Their argument is that FVRA doesn’t even apply,” Richard Horn, co-managing partner at Garris Horn and a former senior counsel and special advisor in the CFPB’s Office of Regulations, said of the lawsuit.

If the FVRA’s basis for Vought’s role lapses on Aug. 1 and no permanent director is confirmed, Horn expects the current deputy director, Geoffrey Gradler, to step in under the guidance of the Dodd‑Frank Act.

“There’s probably no chance that they’re going to get somebody nominated as permanent director, so the current deputy director is going to become acting director under the provision under the Dodd‑Frank Act,” he said, adding that “there’s no time limit for that under the Dodd‑Frank Act.”

Horn said housing industry observers should be cautious about assuming any successful challenge to Vought’s status would invalidate CFPB rules or enforcement actions.

“It would be unwise for industry to say, ‘We don’t have to follow anything that CFPB has been doing in the rules now because Acting Director Vought wasn’t lawfully the director,’” he said. “A future permanent director can ratify Vought’s actions, so industry should follow them.”