The appointment as Acting Director of USCIS may have circumvented the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, according to the Chairs of the House committees on Judiciary, Homeland Security, and Government Oversight. FVRA stipulates eligibility criteria for temporarily filling positions that require Senate confirmation. Before being considered for the position, Cuccinelli had met none of the eligibility criteria. In a letter to the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security, the House committee chairs allege that the brief appointment to "Principal Deputy Director" had been retroactively applied, possibly in violation of the law. The USCIS employees union also challenged the legality of Cuccinelli's appointment.