A federal district court judge in Washington, D.C., ruled Ken Cuccinelli, a senior political appointee at the Department of Homeland Security, lacked legal authority to lead an immigration agency last year.

U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Randolph D. Moss concluded Sunday that Cuccinelli, who was acting director of the 19,000-person Department of Homeland Security agency U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, did not meet the requirements in the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 to have the job. The judge’s decision deemed Cuccinelli’s policy changes invalid, teeing up new legal troubles for the Trump administration.