The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Aug. 15 lifted a preliminary injunction that had barred President Donald Trump’s administration from moving ahead with mass firings at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The 2–1 decision clears the way for the White House to continue dismantling the watchdog agency, which was created in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. Writing for the majority, Judge Gregory Katsas, joined by Judge Neomi Rao, said the district court lacked jurisdiction because challenges involving federal employment must proceed under the Civil Service Reform Act and the plaintiffs had failed to identify a final agency action reviewable under the Administrative Procedure Act. Judge Cornelia Pillard dissented, arguing the lower-court order was necessary to prevent the administration from eliminating an agency Congress mandated under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act. The ruling revives an administration plan, unveiled in February, to fire most of the CFPB’s roughly 1,700 employees, cancel contracts and reduce office space. The National Treasury Employees Union, the NAACP and other groups sued in March, contending the downsizing violated statutory duties and separation-of-powers principles. Judge Amy Berman Jackson had sided with the plaintiffs, issuing the injunction the appellate court has now vacated. The panel’s judgment will not take effect immediately, allowing the plaintiffs to seek rehearing by the full D.C. Circuit. If upheld, the decision would send the case back to the district court for further proceedings while giving the administration latitude to begin the workforce reductions.