Ken Cuccinelli and Mark Morgan, President Donald Trump’s top picks to take over the Department of Homeland Security after acting secretary Kevin McAleenan leaves at the end of the month, are ineligible due to technicalities in federal vacancy laws, according to Politico.
Cuccinelli is currently the Acting Director of the Citizenship and Immigration Services. Morgan is the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection. Both are tough on immigration issues and both head two prominent immigration agencies at DHS.
Sean Doocey, the White House director of presidential personnel, on Friday told Trump neither Cuccinelli nor Morgan was qualified for the position because of a federal law governing agency succession.
Instead, Doocey told the president he had to pick from a small group of eligible individuals, including Chad Wolf, Kirstjen Nielsen's former chief of staff when she was head of DHS. Wolf is currently serving as the department’s undersecretary for policy.
Per The Wall Street Journal, Trump is also considering Transportation Security Administration's David Pekoske and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency's Chris Krebs.
An official must have been confirmed by the Senate to their position or served 90 days of the prior year under the current secretary in order to take over as acting secretary, according to the reports.