WASHINGTON — Shortly after being sworn in as acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf — who the Senate confirmed as the agency's policy undersecretary just hours earlier — conducted his first order of business.
He moved Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general and a favorite of immigration hard-liners, into the No. 2 position.
In an email to employees Wednesday, Wolf announced that Cuccinelli, who for the past five months has been acting director of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the DHS agency that adjudicates immigration benefits, would now serve as the acting deputy secretary.
The move did not sit well with lawmakers.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who heads the Homeland Security Committee, called the move "legally questionable."
"It seems that President [Donald] Trump just couldn't fight the urge to play to his base by elevating Ken Cuccinelli to another senior leadership position at DHS that he is wholly unqualified for. Mr. Cuccinelli is nothing more than an anti-immigrant fringe figure and Trump sycophant," he said in a statement.
"The fact that the President installed someone who is unable to be confirmed by the Senate for any position and cannot legally serve as Acting Secretary shows his reckless regard for democratic norms and the law. This is clearly a legally questionable appointment."
A spokesperson for the top Republican on the committee, Rep. Mike D. Rogers, R-Ala., told CQ Roll Call via email that he "has consistently said that it's important for DHS to have long-term, Senate-confirmed leadership."
In his email to DHS employees, Wolf described his deputy as "a constant and vocal advocate for the men and women of the Department who are protecting our borders and restoring integrity to our immigration system."
Cuccinelli has, indeed, been a vocal advocate of Trump's immigration agenda, going to great lengths to defend even the most controversial policies on television, Twitter and congressional panels.
But when his name surfaced last month as a possible pick for acting secretary, Senate Republicans quickly dismissed the possibility he could ever be confirmed to the position.
Cuccinelli, who lost the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race to Terry McAuliffe, previously worked as president of a political action committee that campaigned against key incumbent GOP senators — including Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Kentucky Republican has since made it clear there was a "lack of enthusiasm" among his colleagues for Cuccinelli.
In addition to opposition from lawmakers, Cuccinelli also wasn't eligible to become DHS acting secretary because he did not fulfill legal requisites under a federal law filling vacancies. The maneuver the White House pulled to catapult him to the top without Senate confirmation has therefore raised eyebrows.
"Because Congress has not, by law, specified which position is 'first assistant' to the Deputy Secretary, this move is technically legal. But just to be clear, they're messing up the entire DHS line of succession in order to pull this off — and spitting, once again, on the Senate," Steve Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas Law, said in a tweet.
Vladeck compared the scenario to a scene from the sitcom "The Office."
"It's like when Dwight Schrute thinks that being 'Assistant to the Manager' means he's the 'Assistant Manager,' only it's real. And it's the Department of Homeland Security," Vladeck tweeted.
It's like when Dwight Schrute thinks that being "Assistant to the Manager" means he's the "Assistant Manager."
— Steve Vladeck (@steve_vladeck) November 14, 2019
Only it's real. And it's the Department of Homeland Security. pic.twitter.com/vS1qWoaTmF
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"He moved Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general and a favorite of immigration hard-liners, into the No. 2 position.".......Garbage, Cuccinelli is a great choice, because he understands and upholds the rule of law in respect to Illegal Aliens in America. The Democrats, on the other hand, just look at Illegal Aliens as more future Democrat voters, and of course, that is the big Draw for people like our racist, bigoted Governor, Ralph Blackface, and his support for the many cities and counties in Virginia that are sanctuaries for Illegal aliens, both Violent criminals and just criminals that have violated our laws. good luck Ken, you will do a great job.
Still another lie from Demey: There are no sanctuary cities and counties in Virginia.
RJuvenile …. you mean lawful sanctuary cities and counties in Virginia …. you act like Mexifornia, you will always be treated as such., Hallelujah, and period.
No Virginia county or city has designated itself as a sanctuary.
RJ, you should know by now, I am all about the FACTS, so here a few facts, cities and counties that have or currently do NOT work with ICE, the definition of sanctuary counties and cities, in Virginia:
Charlottesville, Chesterfield County, Arlington County, Fairfax County Richmond, and that is just a few. In addition, Governor Ralph Blackface, vetoed a bill to truly make sanctuary cities and counties comply with ICE rules for handling Illegal aliens. Now RJ, you will try and cite the Dillon Rule, which means that no locality can have a law that violates state law, BUT, this doesn't keep them from making it a difficult and lengthy process to notify and comply with ICE, and that means that they in many cases, they will just release the Illegal Aliens, because it took too long to get ICE to come get them. RJ, you just saying that there aren't any sanctuary cities of counties, doesn't mean that they aren't ACTING like sanctuaries, and that MAKES them sanctuaries. RJ, when you challenge me on issue like this, and I demonstrate the reality of the issue, you don't seem to do much reality, you appear to be buffoonish, like when I had to educate you on the FACT that the 1929 stock market crash WASN'T what started the Great Depression. At least I have educated you here, AGAIN, on the FACT that many counties and cities in Virginia ARE sanctuaries, because they fail to properly prosecute criminal Illegal aliens.
" https://www.richmond.com/news/local/government-politics/northam-vetoes-sanctuary-cities-bill/article_a0594c7e-b87f-5e4e-9eb8-feb32abdbfc7.html
https://cis.org/Map-Sanctuary-Cities-Counties-and-States
No Virginia county or city has designated itself as a sanctuary.
Trump seems to be able to find everyone who doesn't have a soul and give him a job.
Melissa … you do see the world with your eyes wide open.
Obama might have chosen you for the job ….. One with a wonderful unbiased soul and a big machine large enough to tear down all the walls, so as to flood the market with workers who are not coming here to be a "good American" like you, but what they can get from America …. making them all perfect a prospects to be Democrat voters, just like you. Hallelujah, and period.
No Melissa, that is Adam Schiff, just listen to the loser, he got caught in an epic lie during the first day of theimpeachment side show, he said he DIDN'T know who the "whistleblower" was, even though he met face to face with him.
No, Demey. The whistleblower met with Schiff's staff, not with Schiff. Glad I could expose, once again, your ignorance.
False, RJ, the whistle blower met with both Schiff's staff and Adam Schiff, here you go:
https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/schiff-disputes-gop-claim-on-whistleblower
and from the Left, Politifact:
""Schiff said, "We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower."
The New York Times and other news organizations later reported that the whistleblower sought guidance from a House Intelligence Committee staffer before formally lodging the complaint.
We rate this statement False."
So even the Leftist Politifact says the "whistleblower" met with Schiff and his staff, and that Schiff's statement about NOT meeting with the "whistleblower" is FALSE.......Glad I could clear THAT issue up for you RJ.
No, the NYT does not say the whistleblower met with Schiff. It says the whistleblower sought guidance from a staffer before filing the complaint. Learn to read or shut up.
Your relationship with facts is about the same as that of Trump and his handmaiden, Kellyanne "Alternative Facts" Conway (aka Conwoman).
Cooch terrifies the liberals. They know he will enforce the law and that he won't play their quasi-constitutional games. That means the leftist liberal agenda of flooding America with illegal aliens just may be in jeopardy.
There is no such agenda, except in the fevered delusions of Forever Trumpers.
And BTW, Hannick, don't forget that it was the Republican Party of Virginia who ensured the election of Terry McAuliffe by insisting on a convention rather than a primary. Cuccinelli won the convention, whereas Bill Bolling likely would have won the primary and defeated McAuliffe in the general election.
Great point Dennis, he even terrifies some RINO Republicans like Mitt Romney, who is currently polling at about 18% positive, so GO Ken.
Another lie from Demey. In Utah, the state Romney represents, his approval rating is 46% approve, 51% disapprove:
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2019/10/21/poll-more-utahns/
https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/majority-of-utah-voters-disapprove-of-mike-lee-and-mitt/article_a8341145-baa8-5490-b92f-e4b5850327f5.html
https://www.heraldextra.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/majority-of-utah-voters-disapprove-of-mike-lee-and-mitt/article_a8341145-baa8-5490-b92f-e4b5850327f5.html
RJ, here you go:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mitt-romney-seen-favorably-by-just-18-of-americans-pollare
RJ, are you embarrassed yet FOOL, you should be.
No, I am not embarrassed, Freddy. When one speaks of a senator's approval rating, it means the rating in the state he represents. You, Freddy, are the wingnut fool.
By the way, do you still maintain that Obama is a Muslim? If so, it makes you not only a liar but also an idiot. A right-wing fanatic.
An extremist. A terrible choice. A terrible, end-run process. But that's what we expect from Trump and his delusional disciples.
An extremist. A terrible choice, A terrible, end-run process …. but that is not all that could be said for the one Obama or Hillary would have chosen if they were making the selection.
If Obama or Hillary were President, searching the globe for the one man who fit the bill, of not only being the most brilliant of scholars, but also one who would tear down “all” the walls, fling open the door and flood the market with workers from South of the Border and other countries, so they too could enjoy the same bounty he enjoys, there would be only one man that could fit the bill …… RJuvenile, a very delusional disciple, but dedicated to the cause.
Melissa could be his side kick to make it a balanced team. Hallelujah, and period.
Squawks the Forever Trumper parrot, whose comprehension of reality is identical to that of Trump: slim to none.
Squawks the Forever Trump Hating weasle, whose comprehension of reality is identical to that of Obama, Hillary, and all the other Carpetbaggers and Scalaways who dwell in the same swamp. Hallelujah, Checkmate, and period.
There you go again, lying by calling me a carpetbagger. Keep it up, Peters -- you're just adding mountains of evidence of slander.
RJ, you don't know what an extremist is, Cuccinelli is a great pick for this position, because he understands the rule of law and that Illegal aliens are violating american laws. RJ, let me educate you on an extremist, Lizz Warren is an extremist, she couldn't care less about the rule of law and the Constitution, she wants to take money from producers,and give it to freeloaders to buy votes. Warren's Medicare for all, total erasure of student loan debt, about $1.6 Trillion and her ideas to steal Billions of dollars from wealthy Americans, ARE extremist policies that are just plain anti-American. So RJ, when you think extremist, think Lizzy Warren, glad I could help educate you on the issue.
Wrong as usual, Fred. Cuccinelli is an extremist who cost Republicans the governorship in 2013. And you, who still believe Obama is a Muslim, are an extremist, too.
RJ, Cuccinelli lost, because the Republican Party of Virginia allowed Bill Bolling to sideline many Republican voters that didn't vote for Cuccinelli, because Bolling felt he was owed the nomination, and Cuccinelli took it from him. In addition, the RPV didn't take the third party candidate seriously enough to investigate his ties to the Democrats, despite that he ran as an Independent/Libertarian, again, because they were also upset that Bolling was edged out by Cuccinelli. This was a demonstration of the fact that the RPV will throw Conservative, grass root supported Republicans under the bus, while supporting middle of the road RINOs Republicans like Bolling, because Cuccinelli isn't an extremist, and you, RJ, again demonstrate that you don't have a clue what an extremist is, even though I gave you an example, Lizzy Warren, now that is just stupidity on your part RJ.
Cuccinelli is an extremist and a loser. Bolling, a good, thoughtful man, would have defeated McAuliffe. But you and your kind are more interested in purist extremism than winning an election. Cuccinelli was a terrible candidate. But to you, anyone to the left of Cuccinelli is a RINO. That makes you a dumbo.
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