countries. On March 1, 2020, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that Cuccinelli's appointment as USCIS director was illegal because the newly created principal deputy director role did not count as a "first assistant" under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 because he had never served in a subordinate role to any other USCIS official. This decision caused the suspension of all directives issued by him. De facto Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Appointment controversy On November 13, 2019, newly sworn-in Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf named Cuccinelli to be the Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. Cuccinelli continued to serve concurrently in the acting USCIS director role. The legality of this appointment was unclear; House Committee on Homeland Security Chair Bennie Thompson called the appointment "legally questionable", while University of Texas School of Law Professor Stephen Vladeck said that "because Congress has not, by law, specified which position is 'first assistant' to the Deputy Secretary, this move is technically legal," despite "messing up the entire DHS line of succession in order to pull this off." On November 15, House Democrats requested that the Comptroller General of the United States review the legality of this appointment and Chad Wolf's as Acting Secretary on the basis that former Acting Secretary Kevin McAleenan did not have authority to change the department's line of succession. On August 14, 2020, the Government Accountability Office issued a decision confirming that his appointment as Acting Deputy Secretary illegal on this basis. Tenure Cuccinelli was appointed as a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force on January 29, 2020. In July 2020, amid the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Homeland Security announced that international students in the United States would be deported unless they took in-person classes at universities in the United States. At the time, many universities were considering online-only models or hybrid in-person/online classes in order to safeguard the health of students and staff, as well as to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Cuccinelli defended the policy, saying "there isn't a reason" for international students to remain in the United States unless classes are in-person. He also said that the intent behind the announcement was to encourage universities to have in-person classes during the pandemic. The United States issued nearly 400,000 F1- and M-visas (student visas) in 2019.