President Donald Trump on Friday named Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration crackdown, as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles days after Republicans lost the midterm elections. The Stephen Miller chief of staff appointment was announced by Trump, according to CBS News US.
Trump announced the change on Truth Social and said Miller would begin the new role on Monday, according to CBS News US. Wiles submitted her resignation to Trump on Thursday night, according to a U.S. official and a senior White House adviser, CBS reported.
Wiles’s resignation was tied to Republicans’ midterm defeats, according to three sources familiar with the matter, CBS said. She had planned to stay on as chief of staff through the congressional lame-duck session, but the president accelerated her departure.
Miller is currently the White House deputy chief of staff. The Guardian credits him as the architect of Trump’s mass deportation agenda and describes him as an author of the Project 2025 manifesto and one of the most controversial figures in the administration.
Chuck Schumer said Trump "couldn’t have made a worse choice." Hakeem Jeffries called Miller a "dangerous xenophobe" and demanded that he be fired, according to the Guardian.
The White House called Miller a "key player" in delivering Trump’s agenda and said he would continue to deliver historic successes in his new role, according to the Guardian.
Democrats won the midterm elections, ending Republican control of Congress, and are expected to take control of Congress in January. Before the midterms, Trump had repeatedly said there was "zero chance" of replacing Wiles, according to The Hindu.
The Hindu also attributed to Miller a target of 3,000 arrests per day. That figure comes only from The Hindu and is not confirmed by the other sources in this report. Only a short excerpt of the Hindu article was available, as it sits behind a subscription wall, so the key facts relying on it are limited.
Several gaps remain. CBS said it was unclear whether Wiles’s deputies will remain at the White House. Wiles’s stated reasons beyond her post on X, and any further response from Trump about her exit, have not been reported.
Miller is due to start the chief of staff role on Monday. Democrats, who take control of Congress in January, have vowed to fight Miller at every step, and Oversight Democrats said they will investigate him. Garcia has pledged to investigate Miller, though no formal action has been reported.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.