According to workers, Donald Trump bids to put the gastrointestinal lawsuit of the top U.S. consumer watchdog that prevents the agency from protecting consumers as fears of the recession continue.

For months, the Trump administration has worked to remove the Consumer Financial Protection Agency and fire the vast majority of its labor force. Staff told The Guardian that deprived Americans would have “nowhere to turn.”

"The institution that Congress created after the last financial crisis is currently in full handcuffs," said a CFPB lawyer. "And we are on the verge of another major financial crisis, so it's scary.

“One thing we create is something we can’t do – when we need it most.”

Trump officials tried to cut 1,700 workers in about 1,500 CFPBs last month just because his plan was blocked by a federal judge.

"This whirlwind is hard for everyone, but everyone is fighting more to keep the bureau moving forward because we know the harm that people can do if people get stuck," said a software engineer at the agency. "About loans, mortgages, car loans, credit card debts, bank accounts, we are there to protect everyone."

“We have helped millions of people. We have returned billions of dollars. It’s not that there is no place to turn to a bank or a credit card when you tear you off.

Since February, Trump administration nominee Jonathan McKernan has been lined up this month to serve as the U.S. Treasury Department’s domestic Treasury Secretary — the White House has said it intends to revoke his nomination to lead the CFPB. No other nominees were announced, which sparked doubts within the agency that the government had never intended to move forward with McKennan's nomination in the first place.

"I don't think they ever intended to confirm him," said the CFPB lawyer. He noted that McElnan had been nominated and was nominated before a high court hearing on government actions within the agency. "They used this as an argument at the hearing, and they were not trying to close the bureau."

McKernan's nomination was pushed along with three other Trump nominees during a Senate Banking Committee hearing in early March. Although the three received U.S. Senate approval within two weeks of the hearing, McNanlan did not.

Since February, CFPB's interim director has been Russ Vought, director of the White House Budget Office and architect of the 2025 manifesto of the right-wing project. He served 210 days in his acting role.

"I think the goal is to try to close the agency before becoming an acting director at Vought time, which is why they have been desperate to try to allow (terminate) everyone (terminate) everyone," the lawyer said.

Workers also criticized the so-called “Government Efficiency Department”’s actions at the agency, noting that the CFPB was funded by the Federal Reserve and has returned $21 billion directly.

"They are not interested in efficiency," another employee said. "There are no plans on how to keep plans that are mandatory in Congress, etc. Our military veterans office runs. They shoot first and aren't even willing to ask questions later. Russell Vorge and the Trump administration are reckless and cruel."

Earlier this month, the CFPB released a list of nearly 70 policy and regulatory guidance documents planned to be revoked, including exemption of medical debt from credit reports and prohibiting lenders from considering borrowers’ medical information during credit assessments - and fired three specialists from the agency’s internal Consumer Product Safety Committee.

“To some extent, I think it’s a show,” the lawyer said. Many policy moves are unexplained. “What it does is create confusion. They think they are very friendly, but so far, everything they do isn’t really helpful for most of the businesses we regulate.

"We're not enforcing the law, nor do we do any checks on some of the worst people. We want to stop the harm before it happens because it's better for everyone. The questions asked are similar, and it's obvious that they don't know what we're doing, they don't care."

The White House and the Consumer Financial Protection Agency did not respond to multiple requests for comment.