WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration could lay off workers at the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), but not abolish the agency, an appeals court ruled on Friday.

The agency, created in the aftermath of the global financial crisis to police and regulate the consumer finance sector, has been in the crosshairs of Republicans, who have criticized it as being unaccountable and exceeding its legal authority.

Trump told reporters in February that the agency should be eliminated. A federal judge in March blocked the administration and tech billionaire Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from pursuing efforts to dismantle the CFPB, including mass dismissals, contract terminations, office closures and an agency-wide work stoppage.

The White House filed a motion to have the preliminary injunction struck down, which was denied by the appeals court, though it allowed layoffs to proceed.

The appeals court, however, agreed with the preliminary injunction barring the administration from reinstituting work stoppages either through stop-work orders, administrative leave or any other means.

(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; editing by Diane Craft)