On this episode of The Federalist Radio Hour, Acting Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Ken Cuccinelli joins Ben Domenech to discuss federal initiatives of “law and order” in cities like Portland, his history in politics and law enforcement, and the Donald Trump’s leadership during COVID-19 and rioting.
Cuccinelli, who is in charge of managing over 240,000 employees at Homeland Security, said that law enforcement is a big part of his job.
“We have a lot of operations going on all the time, all over the world actually, and the focus is here in the homeland,” Cuccinelli said.
While Cuccinelli said it can be frustrating to see the lack of “law and order” in certain cities like Portland who refuse federal help, he said that there is an “extreme option” reserved for the federal government if they ever need to use it.
“We don’t have federal power to just go police the streets of cities that does not exist,” Cuccinelli explained. “But the founders never envisioned a situation where the states would abdicate their primary responsibility.”
“Federal law does account for this at a certain point there is the Insurrection Act but we really don’t want to go there but the President has made it very clear at all times, that it is an option that it is on the table,” he added.
Although federal law enforcement is currently unwelcome by certain states and cities, Cuccinelli said that they will be ready to go whenever they are called to do so by President Trump.
“So long as we stay within the boundaries of our federal jurisdiction, we’re going to keep leaning forward on these threats,” he said.
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