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Watchdog flags CFPB tech left behind at closed offices, warns of data exposure risk

Jackson Moreland
Published Oct 1, 2026
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Summary:
  • A federal audit says government databases with sensitive financial data on millions of Americans may have been put at risk following moves to shrink the CFPB.
  • Under then-director Russell Vought, the bureau ended leases for four regional offices in early 2025 and left technology equipment behind.
  • The inspector general urged the CFPB to track down and secure all tech at the shuttered sites in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Atlanta; the bureau agreed to the fixes in a Sept. 18 letter.

What the audit found

An audit released Wednesday by the inspector general that oversees the Federal Reserve Board and the CFPB says the bureau still cannot confirm the security of technology left at four closed regional offices. The report warned, "The CFPB has no way of knowing whether the hardware assets, or the sensitive data that may be stored on them, have been accessed, modified, or removed by unauthorized individuals." The watchdog tied the risk to steps taken as the Trump administration pared back the bureau last year and recommended the CFPB account for and secure all assets at the former locations.

How the CFPB responded and recent agency moves

Russell Vought, then leading the CFPB, instructed the agency to terminate the four regional leases in early 2025, and technology gear remained at those sites. In February 2025, employees were told to stop working and stay home, an order issued shortly after President Donald Trump began his new term. Since then, the bureau has scaled back industry supervision, dropped enforcement actions worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and ordered a move into a smaller Washington headquarters. The administration also plans to cut about half of the bureau's remaining 1,100 staff.

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The agency's technical reply

CFPB Chief Information Officer Christopher Chilbert, writing to the inspector general on Sept. 18, agreed to carry out the recommendations to secure the equipment, while disputing that the agency faces heightened risk of a breach or exposure of personal information. He wrote, "No databases containing sensitive data are housed in the regional offices," adding that the technology there supported "primary infrastructure, network/internet access and administrative support." He added that the bureau had started comprehensive decommissioning of IT at each former regional office.

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October 1, 2026
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