A federal judge ruled on Sunday that Ken Cuccinelli was illegally appointed by President Trump to lead the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). He further ruled that this invalidated some of Cuccinelli’s directives.
The 55-page ruling issued Sunday by Obama Judge Randolph Moss of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. found that a directive under Mr. Cuccinelli which hastens screening time for asylum seekers should be voided.
Moss on Sunday ruled that Cuccinelli’s appointment violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, finding that he was not actually eligible to become USCIS director. The position he initially assumed — the principal deputy — was not a “first assistant” job under the auspices of the 1998 law.
“On the merits, the Court concludes that Cuccinelli was not lawfully appointed to serve as acting Director and that, as a result, he lacked authority to issue the reduced-time-to-consult and prohibition-on-extensions directives,” Moss concluded in his ruling.
CUCCINELLI RESPONDS
Cuccinelli was on with Fox and Friends Monday morning to discuss the ruling. He said that the methodology used to appoint him as the acting director has been used repeatedly. It is broadly seen as legal and that there will be an appeal.
Cuccinelli no longer handles the day-to-day issues.
Additionally, Cuccinelli said that any of his directives that were invalidated by the judge will be re-issued as a precautionary measure during the appeal.
He said that “it doesn’t affect anything we’re doing going forward and Joe Edlow [Cuccinelli’s successor] is there at the helm today.”
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The rulings by these judges are getting more and more ridiculous. They seek to run the government.
gov.uscourts.dcd.210960.34.0 by Johannah Winter on Scribd
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