The Trump administration has become increasingly confident on a temporary basis filling top posts with people, felt criticism from lawmakers. The Homeland Security department – the third largest federal department – is no exception. It did not have a Kiraatjen Nielsen confirmed secretary, who resigned last April.
Since 2017, the department has had five secretaries – only two were confirmed by the First Chamber: John Kelly and Nielsen. The others have occupied the role in an acting capacity, often leaving the leaders of the department at the whims of the president and as a result vulnerable to increased politicization.
Of 27 top roles at DHS, 10 are filled in an acting capacity. The three major immigration agencies under the department – Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Civil and Immigration Services – have been assisted by acting officials for more than a year.
The Federal Vacancies Reform Act supports how most federal vacancies are filled. However, despite the findings of the GAO, the administration is not legally bound to act on it. That’s up to the courts, which have already awaited cases challenging the appointments of Wolf and Cuccinelli.
DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Wolf, who had previously served as secretary of the Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans at DHS, took over as acting secretary with Cuccinelli as his number two.
“Because the wrong official at the time assumed the title of acting secretary, subsequent changes to the order of succession were made by that official invalid and officials who assumed their positions under such amendments, including Chad Wolf and Kenneth Cuccinelli, were named. with reference to an invalid order of succession, “the report concluded, noting that the legality of actions taken by the officials was referred to the DHS Inspector General.
The GAO also referred the question of who should serve as the Acting Secretary and the senior official performing the duties of Deputy Secretary to the DHS Inspector General.
Friday’s report was called by Democratic House committee chairmen Bennie Thompson and Carolyn Maloney, both of whom have repeatedly criticized the lack of permanent leadership at DHS.
Following the release of GAO’s findings, lawmakers called the report “damning.”
“In light of this decision, Mr. Wolf should resign immediately and return to his Senate-confirmed position as Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans. The President should appoint an official political career to run the department temporarily and the Constitution by quickly nominating a permanent secretary, “the chairs wrote.
“As for Mr. Cuccinelli, a political pundit who was picked by the president to serve in multiple senior roles at DHS, why he is desperately unqualified, he should immediately resign from the federal government and his unprofessional official Twitter account retired. “
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