Key Takeaways The acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau asked employees to stop much of their work, closed the headquarters, and said he would refuse the agency's funding.Analysts said that the White House cannot close the agency without Congress' consent but could hold the CFPB back from doing much of its work.

Workers at the federal government's consumer finance watchdog in Washington were told  to stay home Monday after the acting director, newly installed by President Donald Trump, ordered the agency to halt its work.

The financial watchdog agency was formed after the 2008 crisis. The Trump administration has told staffers not to take any actions — or even come into the office.