After thorough investigation, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has concluded that the appointments of two of the top homeland security officials in the Trump administration were improper.

The appointments of Chad Wolf, acting secretary of homeland security, and Ken Cuccinelli, his deputy, were not done by following the proper protocol, a US watchdog has revealed. 

As the GAO can only forward the unbiased information to the Congress and cannot force the executive branch to take action, it referred the issue to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general, another watchdog.

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After the Senate-confirmed Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in left the post 2019, GAO believes that proper protocols and chain of succession was not followed by the Trump administration, which makes the appointments of Wold and Cuccinelli improper.

The GAO issued a 12-page long decision explaining its accusation on the Trump administration.

However, White House spokesman Judd Deere said the GAO decision was “not only wrong, but laughable” as she believes the DHA has the authority to employ acting secretaries under federal law.

This decision could affect Trump’s immigration policy, which are being challenged in a federal court in Maryland on Friday. The hearing is about the new Trump rules that make it harder for asylum seekers to obtain work permits. The US District Judge Paula Xinis said that if the GAO findings were correct, the rules should be invalidated.