Chuck Grassley gives a big thumbs down on Trump's legally dubious Homeland Security appointment

(Image credit: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

The White House may have found a workaround to appoint immigration hardliner and acting U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services chief Ken Cuccinelli to head the Homeland Security Department, but Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) isn't buying it.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Trump administration, through some complicated maneuvering that would involve tabbing Cucinnelli (or someone else who falls in line with President Trump's immigration policies) first as the assistant secretary of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office before vaulting him to homeland security secretary, might be able to get the job done even though Cucinnelli is ineligible for the role because of the federal Vacancies Act.

Grassley, though, wasn't aware of any such plans, and doesn't think it will hold up legally, anyway. "I have not heard anything about some go-around," he told Politico. "But it's my understanding that the existing law would not permit him to" lead the department. Read more at The New York Times.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.