- Pritzker Fellows
- Current Fellows
- Ken Cuccinelli
Ken Cuccinelli
Former Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security
Biography
Ken Cuccinelli served as the acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2019, and then as acting deputy secretary for the Department of Homeland Security from 2019-2021, serving as the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Regulatory Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Ken was a leading official and spokesman on immigration, homeland security, and election security, and was appointed by President Trump to serve as one of seven original members of the Coronavirus Task Force upon the emergence of COVID-19.
In addition to practicing law for nearly 30 years, Ken also served in state government in the Virginia Senate from 2002-2010 and as Virginia’s Attorney General from 2010-2014. As Virginia’s Attorney General, Ken led national litigation against Obamacare and other illegal and unconstitutional federal overreach. He also led Virginia from being among the worst states in fighting human trafficking to becoming one of the best; and his successful prosecutorial efforts resulted in record enforcement against gangs, health care fraud and child predators, all while protecting life and constitutional rights.
In addition to Virginia campaigns, Ken led the delegate convention organizational effort for Senator Ted Cruz in his 2016 campaign for President, and Ken founded the Never Back Down SuperPAC that became the premier SuperPAC in support of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ run for President in 2024.
Ken earned a mechanical engineering degree from UVA, a law degree from the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University, and a master’s in international transactions from George Mason University. He has been blessed to be married to his wife, Teiro for 33 years, and they have 7 children (2 married) and 5 grandchildren!
Seminars
"The Trump Approach Explained"
Many may be surprised by President Trump’s 100 day agenda, but not Ken Cuccinelli. Having served in senior roles in the Trump administration at both the INS and the Department of Homeland Security, and as one of seven original members of the Coronavirus Task Force, Ken will discuss his own assessment of why President Trump has made the commitments that he has and help students analyze what the president has done to actually implement his campaign promises using the lens of various policies. In addition to practicing law for nearly 30 years, Ken also served in state government in the Virginia Senate from 2002 to 2010 and then as the state’s Attorney General with a focus on gangs, health care fraud and child predators.
Fellows seminars are off the record and open to current UChicago students only.
We will look at what President Trump said he would do on the campaign trail - as well as what he did not talk much about - regarding immigration and drop below the policy level to discuss what it takes in the real world to implement his immigration agenda.
We will start our discussion by moving from last week’s immigration policy discussion to the logistics of implementing that agenda to demonstrate the nuts and bolts of policy implementation, and also to appreciate the scope of President Trump’s goals in this area. We will then shift to discuss another example of logistics in government - FEMA. Acknowledging its laudable purpose, we will analyze its continued failure in the real world. I will offer some reasons why a federal FEMA model is doomed to - at best - mediocrity, but more often failure, with "failure" defined as not meeting public expectations. We will finish discussing some alternatives.
We will discuss the politics and policy of government spending, particularly since the U.S. left the gold standard (the last restraint) and what it means for America's future in light of the massive accumulated debt. The focus here will be on the debt. I will touch on the idea of an Article V convention of states to amend the constitution by adding a fiscal restraint - a controversial idea which I strongly support. I will explain my support by walking through a cost/benefit analysis of the alternatives. A focus of our future-focused discussion will be on the U.S. Dollar, its role as the world's (primary) reserve currency, and what that means for trade and government action (e.g., enforcing sanctions).
Fellow Justin Knighten will join Ken Cuccinelli for a left-right discussion about the future of the federal budget. We will start from the agreed premise that spending cannot continue forward on the current over-spending trajectory. So, what to do about it? What are the tradeoffs? Included in 'tradeoffs' will be international implications.
We will discuss what policy changes should be made to bring the goals of the federal government in line with its budget. We will also discuss what does "in line with its budget" even mean. Balanced every year? Carry some amount of debt every year?
Mr. Cuccinelli will generally argue that there can be no sacred cows and that everything has to be cut. Mr. Knighten will advance the position that while smart spending is needed, a mass cut of the federal government will leave the nation weak and vulnerable. They will take the time to note both areas of agreement and disagreement throughout the discussion.
Special Guest: Justin Ángel Knighten, former Associate Administrator with FEMA & IOP Pritzker Fellow