Stephen Wheeler, a CFPB data scientist and chair of the agency's union organizing committee, was placed on immediate administrative leave earlier this month without being told what he's accused of, according to his union. Wheeler had been publicly visible at pickets, sat behind OMB Director Russell Vought during his July congressional testimony, and had spoken to NPR about forced staff relocations widely seen as a pressure tactic to induce resignations.
The CFPB, created after the 2008 financial crisis and long targeted by Republicans, has been effectively hollowed out since Vought took over last year, halting most work, deleting nearly 4,000 webpages, and prompting a court to block attempted mass firings in June 2026. A second union member, Alexis Goldstein, was placed on leave and later fired after she confronted DOGE staffers accessing agency data without proper credentials, a firing the union is still contesting in a delayed arbitration.
Union members called Wheeler's investigation an intimidation tactic, with one saying the administration 'clearly underestimated us once again.' The union notes the agency has returned $21 billion to consumers since 2010, a fact that has not stopped efforts to dismantle it.
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