CFPB Paying Nearly $5 Million for Vought’s Security Detail (1)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is sending nearly $5 million to the Office of Management and Budget to pay for a security detail for Russell Vought, who currently leads both agencies.

The move, outlined in a July 18 email obtained by Bloomberg Law, follows Vought’s efforts to wipe out most of the CFPB’s workforce and halt the agency’s regulatory and enforcement work.

Vought is also a central figure in the Trump administration’s push, in conjunction with the Department of Government Efficiency, to slash the federal workforce and many of its services governmentwide.

The security detail charge comes after Congress cut the amount of money the CFPB can request from the Federal Reserve by around half. The cap was previously set at $823 million for fiscal 2025. The Republican-only budget reconciliation measure signed by President Donald Trump separately handed the White House budget office an additional $100 million through fiscal 2029.

“The members of this Administration are the most harassed, threatened, and doxed in history, largely in part because of a radical and dishonest media who claim anyone they disagree with is a ‘threat to democracy,’” Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for OMB and the CFPB, said in a statement.

“OMB and CFPB will do everything we can to ensure the safety of the Director and his family,” she added.

It’s unclear how large Vought’s security detail is, although he was seen accompanied by around four security personnel at a congressional hearing earlier this month. Cauley also didn’t address when Vought was assigned the detail or how much money, if any, OMB is paying to cover the costs.

The only previous CFPB director with any sort of security detail was Scott Bessent, who held the job for around six days in February and was granted the protection in his role as Treasury secretary.

Even Mick Mulvaney—who, like Vought, served simultaneously as acting CFPB director and OMB director during the first Trump administration—didn’t have a security detail, according to multiple people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss security issues.

Previous OMB directors also typically lacked regular security details, a former OMB official who requested anonymity to discuss security issues said.

Public officials including lawmakers and judges have been operating in a heightened threat environment in recent years, highlighted by the assassination and wounding of Minnesota state lawmakers last month. The House on Tuesday boosted funding for members’ personal security details, doubling the residential security allotment to $20,000.

Heavy Cost

Congress “has limited information concerning the total number of federal official and judicial personal protective details” and associated costs, according to a July 2024 report from the Congressional Research Service.

Vought’s detail, which covers fiscal 2025 and 2026, is expected to cost around $4.7 million through December, according to the email obtained by Bloomberg Law. The request wasn’t previously covered in the CFPB’s budget allocation and is being fast-tracked, the email said.

While Vought’s term as acting chief is generally limited to 210 days under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, the clock reset in May after Trump withdrew the nomination of Jonathan McKernan to serve as full-time director. With a longer term, the cost for Vought’s detail is likely to come in at over $20,000 per day.

Along with the CFPB funding cut in the budget reconciliation package, Vought declined to ask the Fed for any additional funds when he took over as acting CFPB director in February. Instead, Vought said the roughly $700 million the agency had in reserves would be sufficient. He hasn’t made any further funding requests from the Fed, according to the CFPB’s website.

The CFPB in the meantime is paying for staff members placed on administrative leave while a federal appeals court weighs Vought’s plan to fire up to 90% of the agency’s workforce.