Ken Cuccinelli

Kenneth Thomas Cuccinelli II (born July 30, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the senior official performing the duties of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security from 2019 to 2021.

He graduated from Gonzaga College High School in 1986, and received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia, a Juris Doctor degree from George Mason University School of Law, and an M.A. in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University.

He co-founded a general practice law firm in Fairfax, Virginia.

He previously served in the Virginia Senate, representing the 37th district in Fairfax County from 2002 until 2010, and as the 46th attorney general of Virginia from 2010 until 2014.

Cuccinelli ran for the state Senate in the 37th District in an August 2002 special election.

He defeated Democrat Catherine Belter 55%–45%.

In 2003, he was re-elected to his first full term, defeating Democrat Jim E. Mitchell III 53% to 47%.

In 2007, he barely won re-election to his second full term, narrowly defeating Democrat Janet Oleszek by a 0.3-point margin, a difference of just 92 votes out of about 37,000 votes cast.

Since 2007, his office negotiated settlements of almost $8 million representing refunds from eight auto-title lenders, filed a lawsuit against CNC Financial Services, Inc. for charging interest rates of 300 percent or more, and filed two separate against two Virginia Beach-based mortgage modification companies for charging customers up to $1,200 in illegal advance fees.

He was involved in passing legislation targeting human trafficking.

In 2009, Cuccinelli was selected as the Republican nominee for attorney general, going on to win 58% of the vote (1,123,816 votes).

Republican Bob McDonnell became governor, and Bill Bolling was re-elected as lieutenant governor.

A member of the Republican Party, he also served as the Principal Deputy and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and was Attorney General of Virginia from 2010 to 2014.

Cuccinelli was inaugurated on January 16, 2010.

In 2010, Cuccinelli was the first attorney general to file a federal lawsuit (Virginia v. Sebelius) challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

In July 2010, Cuccinelli joined eight other states in filing an amicus brief opposing the federal government's lawsuit challenging an Arizona immigration enforcement statute.

In August 2010, Cuccinelli authorized law enforcement officials to investigate the immigration status of anyone that they have stopped.

Cuccinelli rejects the scientific consensus on climate change.

In 2010, Cuccinelli sought judicial review of the Environmental Protection Agency's finding that greenhouse gasses endanger public health.

In 2010, Cuccinelli announced he would challenge the March 2010 standards for motor vehicle fuel efficiency specified in the Clean Air Act.

In April 2010, as part of the Attorney General of Virginia's climate science investigation, Cuccinelli served a civil investigative demand on the University of Virginia seeking a broad range of documents related to climate researcher Michael E. Mann.

On August 30, 2010, Judge Paul M. Peatross Jr. ruled that "the nature of the conduct is not stated so that any reasonable person could glean what Dr. Mann did to violate the statute."

Cuccinelli appealed the case to the Virginia Supreme Court, which ruled that Cuccinelli did not have the authority to make these demands.

The outcome was hailed as a victory for academic freedom.

Cuccinelli opposes homosexuality, describing homosexual acts as "against nature" and "harmful to society".

Cuccinelli opposes same-sex marriage.

He has argued against the constitutionality of same-sex marriages.

In 2010, Cuccinelli called on Virginia universities to remove "'sexual orientation,' 'gender identity,' 'gender expression,' or like classification, as a protected class within its nondiscrimination policy, absent specific authorization from the General Assembly".

He defended the constitutionality of Virginia laws prohibiting sodomy.

In 2012, a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Cuccinelli's arguments.

Cuccinelli was the Republican nominee for Governor of Virginia in the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial election, losing to the Democratic nominee, Terry McAuliffe.

A self-described opponent of homosexuality, Cuccinelli in his position as Virginia Attorney General defended anti-sodomy laws and prohibitions on same-sex marriage.

Cuccinelli rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, and in his position as Attorney General investigated climate scientists whom he accused of fraud.

Characterized as an immigration hard-liner, Cuccinelli sought to prohibit undocumented immigrants from attending universities, repeal birthright citizenship, and force employees to speak English in the workplace.

During his 2013 run for governor, Cuccinelli opposed the ACA's Medicaid expansion.

In March 2013, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals struck down Virginia's anti-sodomy law, finding it unconstitutional based on the Supreme Court's 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas". On June 25, 2013, Cuccinelli filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court, but in October 2013 the Supreme Court denied Cuccinelli's appeal. On November 24, 2010, Cuccinelli issued a legal opinion that police, school administrators, and teachers could search students' cell phones on the basis of reasonable suspicions in order to deter cyberbullying and "sexting". The ACLU and the Rutherford Institute said that Cuccinelli's opinion was in error, lacking a legal foundation.

His appointment as Acting USCIS Director by the Donald Trump administration was ruled unlawful by U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in March 2020, who found it to be in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998.

Later that year, the Government Accountability Office ruled his appointment as the acting Deputy Secretary illegal, as well.

Cuccinelli was born in Edison, New Jersey, the son of Maribeth (née Reilly) and Kenneth Thomas Cuccinelli.

His father is of Italian descent and his mother is of Irish ancestry.