Trump Names Stephen Miller White House Chief of Staff, Replacing Susie Wiles

President Donald Trump said Friday that Stephen Miller will become White House chief of staff on Monday, November 9, replacing Susie Wiles in the biggest staff change of his second term, three days after Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.

Trump announced the move in a post on Truth Social. He called Miller “one of my most trusted advisors” and said Wiles “has done an outstanding job” and will move to the Trump Political Operation.

Miller, 41, has served as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser since January 2025. He has been one of the main authors of the administration’s immigration enforcement policies and has worked for Trump since his first campaign in 2015, when he wrote the campaign’s first immigration policy paper.

“I think I wanted to make a change,” Trump told reporters shortly after the announcement. “I think Susie’s done a very good job, great job. Stephen’s been great. We’ve got to make moves. Sometimes in life, you have to make moves.”

Wiles leaves after the midterm losses

Wiles, 69, was the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff. She worked on all three of Trump’s presidential campaigns and was co-campaign manager of his 2024 run. She confirmed Friday was her last day in the job and called the work “the honor of a lifetime” in a statement.

A source close to the White House told USA Today that Trump fired Wiles. According to The Times, she offered her resignation on Thursday night.

Democrats won control of the House and Senate on Tuesday, flipping seats in states including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina, according to USA Today. In the days since, former Trump strategist Steve Bannon had called in public for Wiles to be removed, saying in a YouTube interview hours before the announcement that she should be “removed immediately” because of the results. Two sources close to the administration told USA Today that Wiles was being blamed for the midterm losses.

Wiles was diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer in March and announced in September that she was cancer-free after treatment.

Reaction splits along party lines

Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement: “Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat. Stephen Miller is the architect of the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this administration. Trump couldn’t have made a worse choice.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised the choice on X, calling Miller a fighter who “never backs down.”

USA Today reported that Wiles is the latest in a series of women in senior administration jobs to leave or be fired, including press secretaries Karoline Leavitt and Katie Zacharia, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Attorney General Pam Bondi and Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

Reporting based on coverage by USA Today and The Times.