Roughly 450 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employees outside the Washington area must agree by July 14 to relocate to the agency’s new headquarters or be separated from the bureau.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered hundreds of remote employees to relocate to Washington, D.C., or lose their jobs, according to a memo sent by Acting Director Russell Vought.
The directive applies to roughly 450 CFPB employees who currently live outside the Washington area. Vought told workers Tuesday that they have until July 14 to agree to move to the bureau’s new headquarters.
Employees who accept the relocation requirement are scheduled to begin working from the new office on Sept. 6. Workers who reject the move or fail to respond by the deadline will be separated from the agency.
The CFPB’s new headquarters is located at 445 12th Street SW, a building that previously housed the Federal Communications Commission and currently houses the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation.
The office has space for about 550 workers, far below the CFPB’s current workforce of approximately 1,100 employees.
The bureau has not publicly commented on the relocation notices. A limited number of employees appear to have been exempted from the requirement, though the agency has not publicly explained why.
The CFPB employee union has criticized the directive, calling it a de facto reduction in force. The union argues that requiring employees to move to Washington on a short timeline could push many workers to resign rather than relocate.
The order comes as the Trump administration continues efforts to shrink the CFPB and reduce the size of the federal workforce.
The move could significantly reshape the bureau by requiring remote employees to either return to in-person work at the Washington headquarters or leave the agency.
Original article
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