Russ Vought bills CFPB $5M for his security detail

Updated July 23 at 5:49 p.m.

The director of the White House’s budget office wears multiple hats, including the temporary head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 

The Office of Management and Budget is now billing CFPB $4.7 million for Russ Vought’s security detail, according to a memorandum obtained by Government Executive. The memo, sent by CFPB’s deputy chief financial officer to staff last week, spells out that OMB and CFPB are entering into an interagency agreement to pay the costs. 

The memo spelled out that the agreement was “on a fast track,” despite the funding not being included in the bureau’s fiscal 2025 budget. The $4.7 million will cover Vought’s security through December, meaning it will draw from both fiscal years 2025 and 2026. The CFO’s office noted funding will have to be shifted to the director’s front office to cover the costs. Vought is CFPB’s acting director. 

Rachel Cauley, a spokesperson for OMB and CFPB, blamed the media for creating an alleged rise in threats against members of the Trump administration. 

“OMB and CFPB will do everything we can to ensure the safety of the director and his family,” Cauley said.

She did not respond to questions regarding why CFPB was footing the bill for Vought’s security or whether the bureau’s share represented the entirety of the director’s security expense. 

The added expense comes at a difficult time for CFPB’s finances. The bureau is funded as a percentage of the Federal Reserve’s operating expenses and the recently signed into law One Big Beautiful Bill Act lowered the cap for CFPB from 12% of those expenses to 6.5%. CFPB’s budget was $823 million in fiscal 2025. 

Agencies do not generally disclose what they spend for their director’s security. The Government Accountability Office last reported on it in 1994 and found 10 cabinet-level departments spent a total of around $2 million annually protecting their top officials. More recently, the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general found the agency spent $3.5 million on then-Administrator Scott Pruitt’s security in 2017. The IG said that had doubled from the year prior—the last year of the Obama administration—an increase EPA had not justified. 

President Trump and Vought have pushed to essentially eliminate CFPB, seeking to lay off nearly the entire staff and prevent it from conducting most investigations. Those layoffs have been blocked by a federal court and employees are back at work, though their casework has been significantly diminished. 

Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the agency should focus its limited resources on delivering on its mission of preventing unfair financial practices. 

“The American people should be outraged that the White House official determined to eliminate the agency that shields them from financial fraud is now diverting agency resources to pay for his security detail,” Greenwald said.

This story has been updated with additional comment.