Stephen Wheeler, a data scientist at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau since 2022 and chair of the agency’s union organizing committee, was placed on administrative leave earlier this month and is under an investigation for which the union says no scope or details were provided. The National Treasury Employees Union Chapter 335 and other CFPB workers called the action “bullying and intimidation,” noting Wheeler had been a visible critic of agency leadership, sat behind Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought during his July congressional testimony, and spoke to NPR about forced staff relocations. The administration installed Vought to oversee the CFPB in February 2025 after he advocated abolishing the agency and helped implement changes that halted much of the bureau’s work that month. The union says relocation and return-to-office mandates aim to push resignations, and points to an appeals court decision in June 2026 that blocked mass firings the administration sought. The article also recalls Alexis Goldstein, another union member who was placed on leave in February 2025 and fired in February 2026 after confronting outside personnel that she said lacked CFPB credentials; the union’s grievance over her firing is awaiting arbitration, which the union says the agency has delayed. The CFPB removed nearly 4,000 webpages earlier this year, including press releases before February 2025, even as the union notes the bureau has returned at least $21 billion to consumers since 2010, a $2.80 return for every $1 spent on the agency. Wheeler said, "An investigation with no stated scope or scale is no investigation, it’s a fishing expedition," and predicted the facts will show the actions were retaliation for protected union activity and speech.
