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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau officials planned to fire the bureau’s top official overseeing the student loan industry, though a federal court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from following through on that plan.
The National Treasury Employees Union, which sued to block what it sees as an “ongoing effort to dismantle the CFPB,” said in court filings late last week that numerous employees were locked out of their phones and computers. Among that group was Julia Barnard, the student loan ombudsman, a statutorily required position. Barnard has been in the post since February 2024.
The student loan ombudsman oversees private student loans as well as loan servicers and other companies involved in the federal loan program. During Trump’s first term, the ombudsman, Seth Frothman, quit in a letter that criticized the administration's policies on student loans. The administration then brought in a student loan executive to serve as ombudsman.
This time around, Trump officials seem more committed to shutting down the bureau or at least reducing its workforce significantly. Russ Vought, acting director of CFPB, told employees to stop work on investigations and enforcement actions—a move that several outside groups saw as an initial step toward killing the agency.
Under the court order handed down Friday, the Trump administration can’t fire any employees, except for cause. The judge will hold another hearing March 3. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday.
“Firing the ombudsman without a replacement is possibly illegal, but outside of that, it's 100 percent reckless,” said Kristin McGuire, executive director of Young Invincibles, an advocacy group focused on amplifying the voices of young adults. “Millions of student borrowers are going to be left without this key advocate in their corner.”
Likewise, Mike Pierce, executive director of the Student Borrower Protection Center, said the move leaves millions of borrowers “without a lifeline in a broken system.”
“This isn’t just an attack on the CFPB; it’s an assault on consumer rights and protections that everyday Americans rely on across this country,” added Pierce.
Barnard said in a statement released by the Student Borrower Protection Center that her team helped to guide “countless borrowers through the Kafka-esque maze of [Public Service Loan Forgiveness] and ensured others received refunds for money they overpaid out of fear.”
“This work matters,” she added. “It’s a lifeline for borrowers and a safeguard against a system that too often fails them. Dismantling this function is unconscionable and will cost real people real money. To the borrowers still waiting for answers, please know you are not forgotten. I will not stop fighting for you.”
