2019–2021 Department of Homeland Security appointment disputes

Beginning in 2019, multiple appointments of acting officials in the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) were questioned, on the basis of whether the appointments were legal under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 and the Homeland Security Act of 2002. After the departure of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in April 2019, the Trump administration did not formally nominate a new secretary to be confirmed by the Senate, relying on acting postings.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan (left) served as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security from April to November 2019, and was followed in that position by Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Strategy, Policy, and Plans Chad Wolf (right). Both appointments as acting secretary were found invalid by the Government Accountability Office in August 2020, and by a federal judge in November 2020.

The disputed appointments were those of Kevin McAleenan and Chad Wolf as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, and Ken Cuccinelli as Senior Official Performing the Duties of both the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security and the Director of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). The dispute on the Secretary and Deputy Secretary appointments centered on the fact that the issued text of an amendment to the order of succession deviated from the intention of then-Secretary Nielsen, placing a different person than expected next in line. The dispute on the USCIS appointment centered on whether a newly created Principal Deputy Director position was validly the "first assistant" to the Director under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act.

On March 1, 2020, the District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Cuccinelli was not lawfully appointed to serve as acting USCIS Director and invalidated certain actions taken by him; the government dropped its appeal of this case in August 2020. On August 14, 2020, the Government Accountability Office released a finding that McAleenan, Wolf, and Cuccinelli had been appointed improperly to their Acting Secretary and Deputy Secretary positions; the DHS rejected this finding.

On November 14, 2020, the District Court for the Eastern District of New York ruled that Wolf was not lawfully serving as Acting Secretary of Homeland Security and overturned all of his orders as lacking "legal authority". Wolf resigned his post on January 11, 2021, after a number of similar court rulings.

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