Justice Department officials also leave as Trump turns to Stephen Miller
Susie Wiles has resigned as White House chief of staff, submitting her resignation to President Donald Trump on Thursday night, a US official told CBS News, the BBC’s media partner. Three sources told CBS News that Wiles quit because of the Republican losses in this week’s midterm elections, which cost the party control of both chambers of Congress.
Trump named Stephen Miller as Wiles’s replacement. Miller, a deputy chief of staff who served as a senior adviser during Trump’s first administration, is set to take on the role on Monday. Trump said he appointed Miller “to make a change”.
Speaking to reporters, Trump said Wiles had “done a very good job”, but “we’ve got to make moves sometimes”. In a statement, Trump said Wiles would be moved to the “Trump Political Operation”. He told reporters that Miller “gets it, very good politically”.
Wiles said being on Trump’s team was “the honor of a lifetime”. “I’m so 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,” she said. “While my role may be changing, my commitment to the President and the mission never will.”
It was unclear whether her deputies would remain at the White House.
Miller is one of Trump’s closest aides. He stuck by the president following his 2020 election defeat and followed Trump back into power last year. He is considered the architect of Trump’s immigration policy.
Wiles, 69, is seen as among the most powerful figures in the Trump administration and someone particularly close to the president. Asked last month whether Wiles could be replaced soon, Trump said there was “zero chance”. “Susie is here and she’s gonna be here for a long time,” he said. Wiles recently battled cancer, announcing in September, six months after her diagnosis, that she was in remission.
Wiles is not the only high-profile Trump official to leave this week following the midterm elections. The BBC reported that the results have prompted a reckoning among Republicans about how to address voters’ rebuke of Trump’s agenda. Several Justice Department officials have also resigned, including John Eisenberg, the head of the department’s National Security Division, and Jason Reding Quiñones, who was known for enforcing conspiracy probes into officials investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents.
Democrats took to social media to criticize Trump’s new pick, accusing him of doubling down despite voters’ anger with his party’s agenda. Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, who would lead the House Oversight Committee after Democrats take control of the chamber, said he would continue to investigate Miller and his “misconduct”.
“Stephen Miller is the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families,” Garcia said, referencing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Miller was “a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands”. “His presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor,” Jeffries said.
Trump’s communications director Steven Cheung called Miller “someone who has been with the President since the very beginning”. “There is no bigger advocate for the Trump agenda than Stephen, and he will help the Administration deliver on monumental victories for the rest of this historic second term,” he said.