On July 30, 2019, with our partners at the Constitutional Accountability Center, we sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan and Ken Cuccinelli to provide them with notice that Ken Cuccinelli’s purported appointment to the role of Acting Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) is invalid and illegal under the Constitution and federal law.

In summary, Cuccinelli’s purported appointment violates the Appointments Clause of the United States Constitution, U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 2; a provision governing the appointment of Department of Homeland Security officers, 6 U.S.C. § 113(a)(1)(E); and the Federal Vacancies Reform Act (FVRA), 5 U.S.C. § 3345 et seq. We are deeply troubled by Mr.Cuccinelli’s service, both because it causes uncertainty about the legal status of all USCIS actions taken at his direction and because it appears to be part of a larger pattern of this Administration purporting to appoint acting officials in violation of both the Appointments Clause and federal law.

Read the letter here.