Watchdog: Officials wrongly appointed
Not clear what effects judgment would have on Homeland Security
Washington — The two most senior officials in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security were improperly appointed to the posts under federal law by the Trump administration, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog said Friday.
The Government Accountability Office says acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf and his acting deputy, Ken Cuccinelli,
are ineligible to run the agency under the Vacancy Reform Act.
It was not immediately clear what effects the determination would have on DHS, an agency that has acting officials, serving without Senate confirmation, in a number of prominent roles and is at the forefront of key administration initiatives on immigration and law enforcement.
The report does not carry the force of law, though it could be a factor in lawsuits challenging administration policies or influence members of Congress.
DHS rejected the finding.
“We wholeheartedly disagree with the GAO’s baseless report and plan to issue a formal response to this shortly,” the agency said in a written response to The Associated Press.
The Government Accountability Office said it has asked the DHS inspector general, a Trump appointee, to review the situation and determine if the violation affects decisions they have taken.
Wolf should step down and return to the position he previously held in the department and Cuccinelli should resign, according to Reps. Bennie G. Thompson, chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, and Carolyn Maloney, chair of the House
Committee on Oversight and Reform.
“GAO’s damning opinion paints a disturbing picture of the Trump Administration playing fast and loose by bypassing the Senate confirmation process to install ideologues,” the two Democrats said in a joint statement.
DHS, which was already under intense criticism for carrying out administration policies aimed at curbing legal and illegal immigration, found itself embroiled in more controversy this summer as it dispatched federal agents in tactical gear to Portland to confront protesters outside federal buildings without the cooperation of local authorities.