Trump names Stephen Miller his chief of staff ahead of Democrats' takeover

John T. Bennett, CQ-Roll Call on Nov 6, 2026

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WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday announced that Stephen Miller, the architect of the hard-line immigration and deportation program voters rejected this week, will become White House chief of staff.

Susie Wiles will depart that post and move to the Trump political organization, which appears to be in full operation, even after the president’s last midterm election. Miller has been deputy chief of staff, overseeing the Trump administration’s domestic policy.

Miller’s first day will be Monday, Trump said in a social media post.

Trump dubbed Miller “one of my most trusted advisors” and said Wiles, who also oversaw his 2024 presidential campaign, “has done an outstanding job.”

Wiles, who Trump recently announced had won a battle with breast cancer, said in a X post that “serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime,” adding she was “proud to have been a part of what we’ve accomplished together from securing our border and cutting taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America First.”

The chief of staff change came three days after Republicans were demolished in Trump’s final midterm election, with House Democrats on pace for the largest majority in over a decade and at least a 54-seat Senate majority come January.

Trump in recent days had become open to working with Democrats after the new Congress is seated on Jan. 3, even after railing against what he called the party’s “bad” policy during an October-long campaign rally blitz.

“Look, I mean, I’ll get along, probably, with the Democrats, unless they want to be destructive,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “But I have the power of the veto. So if we don’t like what they’re doing ... They’ve already called and they want to talk about things. And that’s fine.”

Trump summoned Thursday’s press pool into the Oval Office for an executive order signing. On his desk was a red baseball cap with “VETO” across the front in large white lettering.

Miller has worked on Capitol Hill as an aide to several GOP lawmakers, including former Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., who became attorney general in Trump’s first administration.

But making the hard-line Miller his White House chief of staff even before congressional Democrats get organized likely will draw the ire of the incoming majority.

Many congressional Democrats — leaders, returning incumbents and members-elect — want to investigate Trump, his inner circle and family members while also pursuing a legislative agenda aimed at paring the cost of living.

To that end, as chief of staff, Democrat-run committees calling Miller to testify is highly unlikely since he could continue to claim executive privilege. That allows senior White House aides to withhold many internal West Wing communications, documents, and presidential-related conversations and actions, from lawmakers.

In public comments and television interviews, Miller has accused Democrats of being aligned with figures and candidates who “hate” Americans, and once said the party is “unworthy of power.”

“So the Democrats have become a party of freaks, weirdos, losers and crazies,” Miller said during a July appearance on Fox News. “But you can’t laugh it off because it’s deadly serious. When you give these people power, everything you know and love in this world falls apart. You have chaos, corruption, decay, violence, poverty.”