Court says Trump can’t de-fund consumer finance agency

A federal district court says the White House cannot defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. At issue is whether President Trump’s budget director can effectively shut down the agency and lay off all of its employees. The judge said the White House cannot lapse in its funding of the bureau and that the government must continue to pay employees. Since Donald Trump took office in January, the consumer finance agency has largely been inoperable as the administration has sought to close it down.