Is Chad Wolfe Even Legally In His Position As Acting Head Of DHS?

[Me.]

Term of office

“Once a vacancy occurs, the position is eligible to be filled by an acting officer for 210 days from the date of the vacancy, as well as any time when a nomination is pending before the Senate. If a first or second nomination is rejected by the Senate or withdrawn, it activates additional 210-day periods from the date of the rejection, but this does not apply to a third or later nomination.[2]

If an office remains vacant after 210 days after the rejection, withdrawal, or return of a second presidential appointment nomination, it remains vacant until a person is appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. In such instance, only the head of an executive agency may perform office functions until such appointment is made in the case of an office other than the office of head of an executive agency.[2]

This period is modified around the time of a presidential transition (when a new president takes office), effectively extending the 210-day limit to 300 days.[2] “

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Vacancies_Reform_Act_of_1998

Chad Wolf
Assumed office November 13, 2019 Acting: February 8, 2019 – November 13, 2019
President

He's been in approx. 250 days ago.

[Nevilledog]

1. No. Term expired June 10th.

[Me.]

2. Then Shouldn't That Be Pointed Out?

and why doesn't anyone seem to know it?

[soothsayer]

3. I read about this earlier today. Turns out it's some loophole

[Me.]

4. Damn There's Always Some Loophole

where these people are concerned

[chriscan64]

5. If there's not, they'll cut one open.

We're through the looking glass already.

[soothsayer]

6. Trump's government full of temps "Acting" officials have held down 22 Cabinet and Cabinet-level jobs

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/02/21/trump-has-had-an-acting-official-cabinet-level-job-1-out-every-9-days/

Trump’s government full of temps
“Acting” officials have held down 22 Cabinet and Cabinet-level jobs for a combined 2,700 days -- about 1 out of every 9 days across those jobs.

Snip

It’s merely the latest top Trump administration job for which the president hasn’t bothered to find a permanent replacement for long periods of time. As Trump’s Cabinet has churned thanks to discord and scandal, he has increasingly opted to just go with acting officials for indefinite periods.

The result is a U.S. government that is increasingly run by people who haven’t been confirmed, or whom the president hasn’t otherwise seen fit to make official.

To this point in his presidency, Trump has kept acting officials in charge of top agencies and departments so much that they’ve accounted for 1 out of every 9 days in those positions. Across 22 Cabinet-level jobs, acting officials have served a total of 2,736 days — more than seven years of combined time.
Despite being just three years into his presidency, Trump has already surpassed the number of days in which acting officials served in the Obama administration. Across Obama’s eight years, there were 2,202 combined days in which acting officials served — about 1 out of every 29 days. Trump has had acting officials serve more than three times as much as did Obama.

[soothsayer]

7. Here's the answer, in the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Wolf was confirmed in a different position

Link to tweet

?s=21

Curious: by my count, Wolf has been acting director of Homeland Security for 249 days. Isn't the law no more than 210 for someone in an acting capacity? What am I missing?

Here's the answer, in the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Wolf was confirmed in a different position, so could move up, and there appears to be no time limit here. Sounds iffy to me, I have to say:

[Me.]

8. THank You

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. Some lawyers do think it's illegal, for a variety of reasons

Trump’s Portland crackdown is controversial. The man spearheading it might be doing so illegally.

And University of Michigan law professor Nina Mendelson, an expert on federal vacancies, says that 210-day window was violated even before Wolf was appointed, given that McAleenan served more than 210 days himself as acting secretary.

“The language of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act is very clear,” Mendelson said. “It’s 210 days, beginning on the date the vacancy occurs, so an acting secretary cannot serve legally past that time.”

Mendelson noted that there is a separate statute governing the line of succession at DHS, which the Trump administration has sought to exploit to install unconfirmed hard-liners in key jobs. But it has never been tested against the Federal Vacancies Reform Act. And even setting that aside, she says that Wolf’s continued service is also unconstitutional, given that the Constitution states that the president “shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate,” such officials — which Trump has made no effort to do.
...
Democrats have argued from the start that Wolf’s elevation was illegal — and not just because of the 210-day window. McAleenan adjusted the DHS’s order of succession, but Democrats argued that McAleenan himself didn’t qualify to be acting secretary under the previous line of succession, which would render his decisions illegitimate.

Brianne J. Gorod, chief counsel of the Constitutional Accountability Center, said Wolf “is a prime example of this administration’s unlawful use of acting officials.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/07/22/trumps-actions-portland-are-controversial-man-spearheading-them-might-be-doing-so-illegally/

What they need to do is get this in front of a judge who can then declare acts by the illegal squatter in the office void. But with appeals, that probably takes us beyond the election, or even Trump's term. Still, worth tarring Wolf with "illegally claiming to be acting secretary", and Trump not caring about security enough to nominate a secretary.

[obamanut2012]

10. No, he was technically out last month