President Donald Trump is making some staffing changes after the Republicans’ midterm loss last week, and his latest move to appoint Stephen Miller to White House Chief of Staff has Democrats fuming.
On Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social that Stephen Miller, former Deputy Chief of Staff of the Trump administration, will replace Susie Wiles, who will now be working with the Trump political operation.
“Susie Wiles, who has done an outstanding job, will be moving over to the Trump Political Operation,” Trump said. “I want to thank her for her service as Chief of Staff.”
Miller has been one of President Trump’s closest advisers and the chief architect of his hard-line immigration agenda. He previously served as a senior adviser during Trump’s first term and returned to the White House in 2025 as deputy chief of staff for policy, helping drive the Trump administration’s mass deportation campaign.
His appointment as chief of staff gives him an even greater role in shaping the president’s agenda.
Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) said the decision is a “dangerous move that Americans do not want,” pointing to the election as evidence of that.
“On Tuesday, Americans rejected Trump’s mass deportation agenda,” Rep. Castro said. “Today, its architect got a promotion.”
Other leading House Democrats have already signaled that immigration enforcement oversight will be a top priority for the party next Congress.
Rep. Castro pointed to Miller’s record of immigration enforcement policies and his role in the Trump administration’s alleged weaponization of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“Stephen Miller has backed lawless ICE tactics and doubled down after the killing of Alex Pretti,” he said. “He tried and failed to dismantle birthright citizenship. And he drove record ICE quotas that ripped children from their parents and imprisoned babies as young as two months old in a trailer prison.”
