President Donald Trump has named Stephen Miller, the aide behind his hardline immigration agenda, as White House chief of staff, replacing Susie Wiles days after Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
The shake-up comes as Democrats prepare to control the Senate and the House for the rest of Trump's presidency, a result that dims the outlook for his agenda in his final two years in office.
Miller, 41, is currently deputy chief of staff and served as a senior adviser in Trump's first term. He is set to take over on Monday. Trump told reporters Friday that Miller had been with him from the beginning, was politically sharp and was a very good manager.
A U.S. official said Wiles handed in her resignation Thursday night, and three people said her departure was tied to the midterm losses. Trump praised her work but said changes sometimes have to be made, adding that she would move to the Trump Political Operation.
The exit is a reversal. Last month, Trump said there was zero chance Wiles would be replaced soon. People familiar with her thinking said she had planned to stay until the end of the year or early next year, but the president sped up her departure.
Wiles, 69, was regarded as one of the most powerful and closely trusted figures in the administration. She recently had cancer and announced in September that she was in remission. It was unclear whether her deputies would stay at the White House.
She is not the only senior official leaving after the elections. Harmeet Dhillon, who ran the Justice Department's civil rights division, stepped down Thursday, and John Eisenberg, head of its National Security Division, has also left.
Jason Reding Quiñones, a U.S. attorney in Florida who was central to Trump's efforts to use the department to prosecute perceived political foes, has resigned as well.
Democrats accused Trump of doubling down despite voter anger. Rep. Robert Garcia, who is set to chair the House Oversight Committee once his party takes over, said he would keep investigating Miller, whom he blamed for immigration raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands
Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic minority leader
Administration communications director Steven Cheung called Miller the strongest advocate of Trump's agenda. Miller, writing on X, thanked Wiles for her service and friendship and described Trump as the most transformative political leader in American history.
A Santa Monica native and Duke University graduate, Miller worked for Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions starting in 2009 and joined Trump's campaign in January 2016. He championed zero-tolerance family separations, travel bans and third-country deportations, and has been hawkish about U.S. and Israeli military action in Iran.
