Stephen Miller starts Monday as White House chief of staff, the most powerful staff job in Washington. President Trump announced Friday that Miller, the architect of his deportation program, would replace Susie Wiles, who ran his 2024 campaign and had held the job since his first day back in office. Wiles is “moving over to the Trump Political Operation,” Trump wrote.
“I wanted to make a change,” Trump told reporters. “I think Susie’s done a very good job, great job, but I just wanted to make a… Stephen’s been great. And we’ve got to make moves.” He called Miller “very good politically” and a “great manager,” CBS News reported.
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Why did Susie Wiles leave?
Tuesday’s midterms. Wiles submitted her resignation Thursday night, and three sources told CBS it was tied to Republicans’ losses. She had planned to stay through the lame-duck session and leave around the new year, but Trump moved the date up. “Today is my last day as White House Chief of Staff,” she posted Friday. “While my role may be changing, my commitment to the president and the mission never will.” Last month Trump dismissed a report that he was weighing replacing her. It isn’t clear whether her deputies will stay.
What does Miller as chief of staff mean for you?
A chief of staff decides who gets in to see the president, which fights get picked and what lands on the desk. Wiles was seen as a manager. Miller is a policy hard-liner who built the mass deportation effort, and he’ll now run the whole operation for the final two years. If you live in a city where ICE is active, or you employ immigrant workers, expect more of the same, not less.
It also sets the tone with the new Congress. Trump has said he thinks he can work with Democratic leaders. Democrats didn’t hear it that way. “Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer, who will lead the new Senate majority. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called Miller “a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist.” Rep. Robert Garcia, in line to chair Oversight, said Miller “should lawyer up.” Miller, for his part, said the “mission is more clear than ever.”
Is this the start of a bigger shake-up?
Maybe. CBS called it the biggest change to Trump’s team since the midterms, and Republicans are already arguing over who to blame for the losses. Chiefs of staff often bring their own people, and with Wiles gone, the people she installed may follow.
The BeezLoop Take
Voters just took both chambers away from Republicans in an election that turned on the war, prices and immigration enforcement. Trump’s answer is to promote the man most responsible for the enforcement. That isn’t a reset. It’s a bet that the problem was the messenger, not the message.
Wiles kept a famously low profile and ran the place quietly. Whatever you think of Miller, nobody expects him to be quiet.
The open question: with Democrats holding subpoena power in January, does putting Miller in the chief of staff’s chair make him the administration’s most powerful official, or its biggest target?
Sources: CBS News · Reuters (video)
