The District of Columbia Appeals Court lifted a ban on Thursday that prevented the Trump administration from effectively dismantling the Consumer Finance Protection Board (CFPB) after hearing that the government would keep the agency operating as the law requires while they reach a more permanent decision.

Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for Wednesday.

“The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the emergency motion for stay pending appeal and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion,” the panel wrote.

The agency's work ground to a halt after Russell Vought became acting CFPB director and director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Cease activity

Vought shut down the agency's headquarters and told supervisory staff not to  “cease all supervision and examination activity."

He also fired the probationary staff of the agency and directed employees to stop working altogether.

The National Treasury Employees Union and other groups sued the administration, saying that Trump's actions violated the separation of powers between the three branches of government.

Lower court Judge Amy Berman Jackson ordered that fired staff be rehired and that work continue until the case could be heard.

"This must end"

Several CFPB employees submitted sworn statements saying that Trump plans to completely eliminate the agency, but the administration claims it does not plan to eliminate the agency completely.

In Jackson's ruling, she quotes statements by Elon Musk, Vought and Trump that seem to say otherwise.

On February 7, she quotes Musk as saying, “CFPB RIP.”

On February 8, she quotes Vought as saying, “The CFPB has been a woke and weaponized agency against disfavored industries and individuals for a long time. This must end.”

And on February 10, she quotes Trump as saying, “That was a very important thing to get rid of.”

While the quotes do seem to say that the intention was to get rid of CFPB, the latter two are vague enough that they could have been twisted. The appeals court hearing may reveal more about Trump's plans for the streamlined agency.