The agency, which has returned $21 billion to consumers since its inception, could lose 1,500 of its 1,700 employees, a union warned.

Roughly 1,500 employees — or almost 90% of the agency's staff — will be cut from the CFPB, leaving around 200 people, according to an administration official who wasn't authorized to disclose the figure publicly and spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity. Fox Business first reported the number of layoffs.

The judge suggested the speed with which so many employees were fired means mandatory assessments did not occur and was, rather, a way to achieve a prohibited work stoppage.