Stephen Miller takes over White House operations after GOP midterm defeat

President Donald Trump announced on Friday that Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff. The new role begins Monday, giving Miller direct control over presidential access, White House operations, and the flow of issues to the president's desk.

The appointment comes immediately after Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate in the midterm elections. Miller, 41, has served as the president's deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser since January 2025. He now moves from a specialized policy role to a position requiring coordination among cabinet members and senior officials while navigating a Congress led by Democrats.

Miller has spent a decade shaping Trump's political priorities into executive orders and government policy. Before joining the 2015 presidential campaign, he worked for Republican lawmakers, including then-Senator Jeff Sessions. During Trump's first term, Miller helped draft restrictions on entry from Muslim-majority countries, reduced refugee admissions, and supported the policy that separated children from parents at the Mexican border.

Since returning to the White House, Miller has pushed for aggressive immigration enforcement. Axios reported in May that he and former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded at least 3,000 daily arrests by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This target represented approximately triple the arrest rate at the start of the current administration. His recent work also includes efforts to limit asylum, restrict legal immigration, and challenge the constitutional interpretation of birthright citizenship.

His tenure has expanded beyond immigration into disputes with universities and foreign policy discussions involving Venezuela and Latin American drug cartels. The New York Times reported that Miller argued for ending the war in Iran while making his case for the chief of staff job. He warned that some Trump supporters viewed the military action as a breach of promises to avoid prolonged Middle Eastern conflicts.

Democratic leaders reacted quickly to the news. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries called Miller a "dangerous xenophobe." Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said the selection showed Trump had learned nothing from the election losses. Representative Robert Garcia, who is expected to chair the House Oversight Committee, stated that Democrats would continue investigating Miller's role in deportation policies.

Miller, raised in Santa Monica, California, pledged his "absolute loyalty" to Trump at Mar-a-Lago following the announcement. He described the new position as the greatest honor of his life.