In August, the Government Accountability Office, a bipartisan congressional watchdog, said that the acting leaders of the Department of Homeland Security – acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and his aide Ken Cuccinelli, who have been serving in their roles since November 2019 without Senate confirmation, were not appointed through a valid process (previous coverage available here). The two have been at the forefront of administration initiatives on immigration and law enforcement.
On Saturday, a federal district court in New York City ruled Chad Wolf has not been acting lawfully as the chief of Homeland Security, and that determination invalidated Wolf’s suspension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which shields young people from deportation. (article available here).
“DHS failed to follow the order of succession as it was lawfully designated,” the Court ruled. “Therefore, the actions taken by purported Acting Secretaries, who were not properly in their roles according to the lawful order of succession, were taken without legal authority.”