A three-judge panel for the District of Columbia Court of Appeals temporarily stayed Thursday a lower court order blocking firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), part of President Donald Trump’s push to dismantle the federal workforce.

The court cited representations by  CFPB director Russell Vought that the agency would “remain open and perform its legally required functions.” The new order leaves intact portions of the injunction concerning further contract terminations and destruction of government documents and files.

The order remains in place while the court considers an emergency motion for a stay pending appeal.

District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson’s original decision criticized the Vought’s actions in working to gut the agency despite a clear congressional mandate for the agencies’ existence in the Dodd-Frank Act. As a response to the 2008 financial meltdown, Congress passed the act to regulate financial products or services.

The plaintiff, the National Treasury Employees Union similarly accused the Trump administration of violating federal law in working to cripple the CFPB’s ability to monitor big business financial practices or conduct basic functions. Actions taken by the administration against the agency included mass firings and the termination of vital consumer protection work.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) headed by tech oligarch Elon Musk was unleashed on the agency in February. It provided full access to sensitive documents, databases, and information at the CFPB. Musk posted a short post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) about the agency stating simply “RIP CFPB.”

Russell Vought, also the director of the Office of Management and Budget, shut down CFPB headquarters and ordered a halt to all functions shortly after taking over. Vought at the time said that “[the] spigot, long contributing to CFPB’s unaccountability, is being turned off,” in committing to refuse further agency funding from the Federal Reserve.