Federal judge pausing Trump administration's plans for mass layoffs at the CFPB

WASHINGTON — A federal judge who blocked the Trump administration from dismantling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ruled Friday that the bureau can’t go forward immediately with plans to mass fire hundreds of employees.

U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said she is “deeply concerned” that administration officials aren’t complying with her earlier order that maintains the bureau’s existence until she rules on the merits of a lawsuit seeking to preserve it.

During a hearing, Jackson said she will bar officials from carrying out any mass firings or cutting off employees’ access to bureau computer systems on Friday.

Jackson scheduled a hearing on April 28 to hear testimony from officials who were working on the reduction in force, or RIF, procedures.

“I’m willing to resolve it quickly, but I’m not going to let this RIF go forward until I have,” she said.

Roughly 1,500 employees are slated to be cut, leaving around 200 people.