Latest news with #Paoletta
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
White House directs DOT to ignore GAO ruling on EV funding pause
The White House's Office of Management and Budget told the Transportation Department on Tuesday to disregard a ruling by the Government Accountability Office that the Trump administration violated the law by freezing electric vehicle funding. Mark Paoletta, OMB's general counsel, in a letter to DOT called the congressional watchdog's ruling 'wrong and legally indefensible.' The letter responds to the GAO's report that found DOT broke the law by withholding money already approved by Congress for the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, which was funded by the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law. Paoletta contends DOT's recording of obligations for the NEVI program complied with the statutory language that created the program and was aligned with DOT past practices regarding other highway formula programs. He also argues DOT didn't violate the Impoundment Control Act by rescinding the Biden administration's NEVI program guidance and 'temporarily pausing new obligations until new guidance could be issued.' Further, he notes DOT does not need to 'take any action to adjust the recording of its NEVI program obligations, nor change its practices with respect to obligating funds for any of its [Federal Highway Administration] programs in response to GAO's incorrect opinion.' The GAO in its report said the White House needs to send a recissions request to Congress to make changes to funding mandates already in law. The watchdog also said DOT incorrectly interpreted the way funds were obligated under the program. The Paoletta letter called the report "part of a troubling trend of partisan opinions" by the GAO. "Your agency, and all Executive Branch agencies, should not feel compelled to cooperate at all with GAO in its efforts to thwart President Trump's agenda, nor give any weight or deference to GAO's opinions," he wrote. Sarah Kaczmarek, a spokesperson for GAO, said the agency disagrees with OMB and stands by its ruling. 'We stand behind our analysis and conclusion for both the appropriations law issue for recording obligations in the NEVI program and the illegal impoundment of funds under the ICA,' Kaczmarek said in a statement. 'GAO's work in this area, as with all of GAO work, is non-partisan, independent, and consistently follows a process that allows agencies to provide their views.' Nathaniel Sizemore, a DOT spokesperson, said GAO's report 'conflicts with Congress' intent, and completely misunderstands the Federal-aid highway program and how Congress structured the NEVI program.' The GAO's assessment also is 'at odds with its own reports on how Federal-aid Highway programs similar to NEVI receive and use appropriated funds,' he said, adding the agency is updating the NEVI program guidance because its implementation failed. OMB Director Russell Vought is scheduled to testify before the House Appropriations Committee Wednesday on the Trump administration's budget.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Judge orders halt to mass firings at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has ordered an immediate halt to the planned firings of nearly 1,500 employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and is ordering the Trump administration to hand over communications and make top officials available for testimony to determine whether they deliberately violated one of her court orders. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson told attorneys for the government she was "deeply concerned" about the apparently rushed efforts to implement a Reduction In Force, or RIF, of approximately 1483 employees at the CFPB which was set to take effect at 6 pm tonight. Jackson said the moves by CFPB leadership, including Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought and general counsel of the OMB Mark Paoletta, in apparent coordination with a staffer from Elon Musk's DOGE operation, Gavin Kliger, may be in direct violation of a preliminary injunction she had put in place -- which the D.C. Circuit upheld in part. That injunction required terminations at the agency to be carried out only after "particularized assessments" of individual employees' performance. MORE: Judge blocks dismantling of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, orders employees reinstated She told attorneys from the Justice Department the reductions in force were "not going to happen in the meantime" and ordered them to advise the agency leadership to make that clear to employees who had been informed they would be ousted. Many of those employees sat in her courtroom Friday, and several broke into tears following the hearing. Jackson further ordered a hearing for April 28 where she said Paoletta should be prepared to testify under oath, and Kliger should also plan to be in attendance to potentially provide testimony. She also said the government should retain and be prepared to provide any communications between Paoletta, Vought and Kliger in advance of the hearing to help her determine whether her preliminary injunction was deliberately violated. The Trump administration had begun the process this week of firing 1,474 employees at the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau, according to a sworn declaration from Paoletta, the agency's chief legal officer. The administration plans to run the agency with a 206-person staff, according to court filings Friday morning, a steep decrease from the 1,680 employees who previously worked for the consumer-protection agency. Some departments within the CFPB were cut entirely or reduced to a single employee, according to Paoletta. MORE: It's 'shoot first and ask questions later' as DOGE tries to dismantle CFPB: Official "An approximately 200-person agency allows the Bureau to fulfill its statutory duties and better aligns with the new leadership's priorities and management philosophy," Paoletta wrote. According to Paoletta, agency leadership conducted a "particularized assessment" of each department to determine how to run the CFPB with the "smaller, more efficient operation." "Leadership has discovered many instances in which the Bureau's activities have pushed well beyond the limits of the law," he wrote. The CFPB, created by Congress to safeguard Americans against unfair business practices in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, has been targeted for elimination by President Donald Trump as part of his efforts to slash the federal government. Trump has said the CFPB is "very important to get rid of" and that the organization was "set up to destroy some very good people." Its oversight applies to everything from mortgages to credit cards to bank fees to student loans to data collection. By law, the CFPB has the rare ability to issue new rules and to impose fines against companies who break them. Since its establishment in 2011 through last June, the CFPB said it has clawed back $20.7 billion for American consumers. Judge orders halt to mass firings at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau originally appeared on
Wall Street Journal
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
‘American Oasis' Review: The Lure of the Desert
Hating the Southwest, particularly its burgeoning cities such as Phoenix, is de rigueur in American media. Jon Stewart has called Arizona 'the meth lab of democracy.' Hunter S. Thompson described hell as an 'overcrowded version of Phoenix.' Fran Lebowitz, the epitome of New York progressive arrogance, said: 'I don't think anyone needs Arizona. . . . Putin: here take Arizona, leave Ukraine.' It's a tendency that Kyle Paoletta rightfully finds annoying. In 'American Oasis,' Mr. Paoletta, a journalist and critic, focuses on the region spanning California to Texas and argues that the Southwest, if not a mistake, is poised for ecological and social dislocation. Having grown up in Albuquerque, N.M., the son of affluent professionals, Mr. Paoletta now questions whether newcomers 'who have sought to master the Sonoran Desert with air conditioning and aqueducts' can really call the region home. Yet these are precisely the people who continue to migrate to this supposedly miserable corner of the continent, building what amounts to a new America. Budding sophistos such as Mr. Paoletta may move to the dank Northeast, but since 2010 Arizona's population has grown by more than one million—the eighth-fastest growth among U.S. states. More than two-thirds of that growth has been attributable to people moving to Arizona from other states, primarily far-more-temperate California.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
CFPB allowing some offices to resume functions
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is allowing some offices to resume their functions, as the Trump administration faces a legal challenge over its stop work order and other efforts to overhaul the consumer watchdog. Mark Paoletta, the CFPB's chief legal officer, emailed employees Sunday clarifying they still should be performing statutorily required work. Several offices at the agency since have received authorization to resume their work, according to a trove of emails filed in court Tuesday. 'These measures were intended to ensure that new leadership could establish operational control over the agency while ensuring that it would continue to fulfill its statutory duties,' Paoletta wrote. 'Many of you understood this and continued to perform functions required by law and sought approval from me to perform work, which I have promptly granted.' 'It has come to my attention, however, that some employees have not been performing statutorily required work,' he continued. 'Let me be clear: Employees should be performing work that is required by law and do not need to seek prior approval to do so.' After acting CFPB Director Russell Vought was appointed in early February, he initially directed employees to cease 'all supervision and examination activity' and 'shareholder engagement.' However, he quickly expanded his order days later, telling agency staff to 'stand down from performing any work task' unless they received approval from Paoletta. Employees were also told not to come into CFPB headquarters, and the building's lease was later cancelled. As CFPB staff attempted to comply with the work stoppage, confusion emerged over whether they could send emails, attend meetings with other agencies or, for the legal division, review certain documents, the emails show. Employees also appeared unclear whether they could perform statutorily required activities. In an email last week, the associate director of the Office of Fair Lending asked if they were permitted to perform statutory functions, such as supporting fair lending examinations and enforcement activity and completing a report for Congress. The team responding to records requests under the Freedom of Information Act at the CFPB similarly asked for permission to continue its work, noting it was required by law and halting the work posed a 'risk of litigation.' Both requests were approved. Adam Martinez, the CFPB's chief operating officer, also emailed staff in the Division of Research, Markets and Regulations last week, saying it wanted 'to ensure that you are aware that statutorily required work and/or work required by law are authorized.' He sent a similar missive to the team handling supervision at CFPB. However, he also confirmed that Vought's order to cease all supervision and examination activity was still in force. Following Paoletta's Sunday email, the supervision team sought clarification from Martinez, who responded that the newest directive 'does not change the specific work stoppage' laid out in Vought's initial email. As a result, Cassandra Huggins, the principal deputy assistant director of Supervision Policy and Operations, sent out an email to supervision staff Monday. She noted that Paoletta's message 'was not intended to authorize the reinstatement of supervision/examination activity, even though the Bureau is required by law to carry out these activities.' In a lengthy response to Huggins and supervision staff, Paoletta slammed the email, emphasizing that all CFPB staff are authorized to perform statutorily required work. 'I am concerned that you sent out an internal agency communication on such an unfounded basis that is false and directly contradicts my March 2nd message without first getting confirmation directly from me,' he wrote. 'Your actions severely undermine the Agency leadership's ability to supervise the agency staff and to ensure that statutorily required duties are being performed,' Paoletta added. Huggins responded, noting that she 'did not intend to undermine the new administration's ability to supervise agency staff.' '[M]y only intention was to ensure that our staff did not act against the direction in the February 8 email from Acting Director Vought to cease all supervisory and examination activity,' she said. Other actions taken by the new CFPB leadership have also sowed confusion. After the agency's social media accounts were deleted in early February, staff warned that they might be in violation of records retention requirements, the emails show. The issue was compounded by a push to terminate more than 100 contracts, one of which held backup records of the CFPB's social media. The emails were submitted as part of a lawsuit brought by the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB staff, and several outside groups. They have accused the Trump administration of attempting to dismantle the agency. Administration lawyers have denied the allegations that they plan to eliminate the CFPB, emphasizing President Trump's nomination of Jonathan McKernan for CFPB director. The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance McKernan's nomination Thursday. However, CFPB employees have pushed back on the administration's claims. In a series of court declarations last week, staff said they were told by officials that they plan to 'wind down' the agency, eliminating all but five employees and transferring its statutorily required functions to other agencies. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
06-03-2025
- Business
- The Hill
CFPB allowing some offices to resume functions
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is allowing some offices to resume their functions, as the Trump administration faces a legal challenge over its stop work order and other efforts to overhaul the consumer watchdog. Mark Paoletta, CFPB's chief legal officer, sent an email to employees Sunday clarifying that they should still be performing statutorily required work. Several offices at the agency have since received authorization to resume their work, according to a trove of emails filed in court Tuesday. 'These measures were intended to ensure that new leadership could establish operational control over the agency while ensuring that it would continue to fulfill its statutory duties,' Paoletta wrote. 'Many of you understood this and continued to perform functions required by law and sought approval from me to perform work, which I have promptly granted.' 'It has come to my attention, however, that some employees have not been performing statutorily required work,' he continued. 'Let me be clear: Employees should be performing work that is required by law and do not need to seek prior approval to do so.' After acting CFPB director Russell Vought was appointed in early February, he initially directed employees to cease 'all supervision and examination activity' and 'shareholder engagement.' However, he quickly expanded his order days later, telling agency staff to 'stand down from performing any work task' unless they received approval from Paoletta. Employees were also told not to come into CFPB headquarters, and the building's lease was later cancelled. As CFPB staff attempted to comply with the work stoppage, confusion emerged over whether they could send emails, attend meetings with other agencies or, for the legal division, review certain documents, the emails show. Employees also appeared unclear as to whether they could perform statutorily required activities. In an email last week, the associate director of the Office of Fair Lending asked if they were permitted to perform statutory functions, such as supporting fair lending examinations and enforcement activity and completing a report for Congress. The team responding to records requests under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) at CFPB similarly asked for permission to continue their work, noting that it was required by law and halting the work posed a 'risk of litigation.' Both requests were approved. Adam Martinez, CFPB's chief operating officer, also sent an email to staff in the Division of Research, Markets and Regulations last week, saying they wanted 'to ensure that you are aware that statutorily required work and/or work required by law are authorized.' He sent a similar missive to the team handling supervision at CFPB. However, he also confirmed that Vought's order to cease all supervision and examination activity was still in force. Following Paoletta's Sunday email, the supervision team sought clarification from Martinez, who responded that the newest directive 'does not change the specific work stoppage' laid out in Vought's initial email. As a result, Cassandra Huggins, the principal deputy assistant director of Supervision Policy and Operations, sent out an email to supervision staff Monday. She noted that Paoletta's message 'was not intended to authorize the reinstatement of supervision/examination activity, even though the Bureau is required by law to carry out these activities.' In a lengthy response to Huggins and supervision staff, Paoletta slammed the email, emphasizing that all CFPB staff are authorized to perform statutorily required work. 'I am concerned that you sent out an internal agency communication on such an unfounded basis that is false and directly contradicts my March 2nd message without first getting confirmation directly from me,' he wrote. 'Your actions severely undermine the Agency leadership's ability to supervise the agency staff and to ensure that statutorily required duties are being performed,' Paoletta added. Huggins responded, noting that she 'did not intend to undermine the new administration's ability to supervise agency staff.' '[M]y only intention was to ensure that our staff did not act against the direction in the February 8 email from Acting Director Vought to cease all supervisory and examination activity,' she said. Other actions taken by the new CFPB leadership have also sowed confusion. After the agency's social media accounts were deleted in early February, staff warned that they might be in violation of records retention requirements, the emails show. The issue was compounded by a push to terminate more than 100 contracts, one of which held backup records of the CFPB's social media. The emails were submitted as part of a lawsuit brought by the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents CFPB staff, and several outside groups. They have accused the Trump administration of attempting to dismantle the agency. Administration lawyers have denied the allegations that they plan to eliminate the CFPB, emphasizing President Trump's nomination of Jonathan McKernan for CFPB director. The Senate Banking Committee voted to advance McKernan's nomination Thursday. However, CFPB employees have pushed back on the administration's claims. In a series of court declarations last week, staff said they were told by officials that they plan to 'wind down' the agency, eliminating all but five employees and transferring its statutorily required functions to other agencies.
