Cuccinelli Rants About Dems Blocking Senate Confirmations Amid Ruling

WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 07: Homeland Security Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli speaks during a press conference on recent developments with the coronavirus with other members of President Trump's Coronavirus Task Force at the Health and Human Services headquarters on February 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. Li Wenliang, the 33-year-old ophthalmologist based in Wuhan who was detained by the Chinese Government after raising early warnings about the virus, died on Friday from the virus. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ken Cuccinelli
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 07: Homeland Security Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli speaks during a press conference on recent developments with the coronavirus with other members of President Trump's Coronavirus ... WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 07: Homeland Security Acting Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli speaks during a press conference on recent developments with the coronavirus with other members of President Trump's Coronavirus Task Force at the Health and Human Services headquarters on February 7, 2020 in Washington, DC. Li Wenliang, the 33-year-old ophthalmologist based in Wuhan who was detained by the Chinese Government after raising early warnings about the virus, died on Friday from the virus. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Ken Cuccinelli maintained that there’s no issue with his position at the agency during an interview on “Fox and Friends” Monday morning.

On Sunday, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. ruled that Cuccinelli was unlawfully appointed as the acting director of USCIS last year. Citing the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, Judge Randolph Moss wrote in the ruling that Cuccinelli’s newly created title by the Trump administration failed to satisfy the necessary legal standard and lacked “any substance.”

After telling “Fox and Friends” hosts that the ruling is an “outlier,” Cuccinelli was asked by co-host Ainsley Earhardt about whether the method has been used by Republicans and Democrats for years. Earhardt also pointed out that Moss was appointed by former President Barack Obama.

Cuccinelli responded that “various aspects of appointment have been used” before going on a tangent about how the Trump administration is frustrated with Democrats blocking Senate confirmations.

“The Trump administration has been somewhat frustrated with how long it takes to get people through the Senate,” Cuccinelli said, referring to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act cited within Moss’ decision. “That Democrats in the Senate have imposed a record number of blocks on those nominees.”

Cuccinelli added that Democrats have “really tied the hands of the administration,” causing the Trump administration to “use things like the Vacancies Act and these alternatives that are legal.”

“They’re just less preferential to getting a full Senate appointment,” Cuccinelli said. “But that’s the way the President has been forced to play the game.”

Co-host Brian Kilmeade chimed in, saying that “we’ve got to fix that” and regardless of who the next President is, “this is a joke.”

Watch Cuccinelli’s remarks below:

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