Former CFPB Employee Announces Democratic Bid for Maryland Seat

Alexis Goldstein, a former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau employee, was fired in February 2026 for recording DOGE’s incursion into the agency. S. House of Representatives as a Democrat in Maryland's 6th congressional district against incumbent April McClain Delaney.

The district has a lot of government workers. The encounter that led to her dismissal occurred in February 2025, when DOGE operatives arrived at the CFPB on February 6. Goldstein had just dropped her toddler off at day care and was on her way back into the office, pushing her stroller through the basement, when she saw people without CFPB badges who had a CFPB computer.

The group included members of DOGE, specifically Jordan Wick and Jeremy Lewin, who is almost 30 years old and dismantled USAID. Goldstein used her phone to document the group by taking pictures that included computer screens, filming through a window with her phone in the cupholder until they moved to a room without a window.

She then introduced herself, asked who they were, and questioned if they had proper training to handle sensitive information.

Jeremy Lewin ran into the corner, and they called security on Goldstein. CFPB leadership alleged that Goldstein violated agency information security rules due to the pictures including computer screens. She was placed on administrative leave for a year, with the limbo becoming specific around May 2025.

A third of the CFPB workforce was fired the week after her initial situation. The case went to the DC Circuit, and workers awaited their decision. The inspector general asked to speak to Goldstein at the end of June 2025, in an interview she described as hostile, where they suggested her actions were as bad as DOGE's.

The inspector general found no wrongdoing by Goldstein in a document included in a December 2025 letter proposing her firing, which she received that month. DOGE targeted the CFPB in April 2025, attempting to terminate more than 1,400 of its 1,700 workers. DOGE's influence has halted CFPB enforcement work.

The CFPB handles personal data related to vulnerable financial moments, such as foreclosure hotline calls containing personally identifiable information. The agency enforces 18 different consumer finance laws by examining companies. Goldstein worked on an inquiry into big tech-payment platforms including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Cash App.

Goldstein arrived on-site that day because the union had been tabling in the lobby all week. The CFPB union is advocating for full CFPB funding restoration in must-pass legislation. The Protect America’s Workforce Act passed the House.

Goldstein is the chair of the LGBTQ affinity group at the CFPB, is queer and has kids. She has worked on Wall Street, in government, and at a nonprofit trying to pass tougher rules on banks and Big Tech. Russell Vought is associated with efforts affecting the federal workforce.

In an interview, Goldstein said, 'I put my phone in the cupholder and started filming through the window, trying to be subtle, but they saw me and moved to a room that didn’t have a window. Goldstein also stated, 'They’ve halted the work of the CFPB.