The White House personnel office chief has told President Trump that his top two picks to fill the Homeland Security Secretary job aren't eligible under a federal law dictating who can fill the role without Senate confirmation, people familiar with the matter said.
Trump and many of his top immigration advisers favor Ken Cuccinelli or Mark Morgan for the job. Both men have only worked at DHS for the past few months but are ardent defenders of the president's immigration policies on television. The previous acting Secretary, Kevin McAleenan, submitted his resignation this month but will remain on the job through the end of the month.
Cuccinelli and Morgan were installed in the spring after the White House pushed out several officials, including former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, whom they felt were standing in the way of tougher immigration enforcement.
Cuccinelli heads the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the agency overseeing legal immigration and asylum applications, while Morgan leads Customs and Border Protection. Both men are serving on an acting basis, and neither has been nominated by Trump for permanent roles, which would require Senate confirmation.
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