U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says Appointments to Acting DHS Leadership Roles Were Invalid

On August 14, 2020, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported  the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did not follow the proper succession rules in making Chad Wolf the Acting Secretary of DHS and in making Kenneth Cuccinelli the senior official performing the duties of Deputy Secretary, and they were thus ineligible for their positions. The GAO report came at the request of the heads of two House committees.

Following this report on August 17, Chad Mizelle, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the General Counsel at DHS, sent a letter to the GAO arguing that Chad Wolf and Kenneth Cuccinelli are lawfully performing their current roles at DHS and asking GAO to immediately rescind its report claiming otherwise.

The GAO has since responded on August 21, denying DHS’ request that they rescind their decision on the legality of service of both Chad Wolf and Kenneth Cuccinelli.  As such, these invalid appointments are now being used to challenge USCIS policies in current lawsuits.