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

President Donald Trump named Stephen Miller the 33rd White House chief of staff on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026, succeeding Susie Wiles days after Republicans lost control of Congress in the midterm elections. Miller, previously deputy chief of staff and a longtime immigration hardliner in Trump’s orbit, is scheduled to begin the role on Monday, Nov. 9.

The White House issued a formal release announcing the appointment. Trump said on Truth Social that Miller — “one of my most trusted advisors” — would become chief of staff starting Monday, and that Wiles would move to the Trump Political Operation. He thanked her for her service and said she had “done a great job.”

What changed at the top of the White House?

According to NBC News, citing a White House official, Wiles submitted her resignation Thursday night. Axios reported that sources described the departure as a mutual decision driven by Tuesday’s election results, and that Wiles had offered to quit in the days after the midterms before Trump accepted the decision Friday. Axios also said Trump did not formally ask for her resignation but grew focused on blaming her for the scale of the losses.

Wiles posted on X that Friday would be her last day as chief of staff. “Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime,” she wrote, adding that while her role may be changing, her commitment to the president and the mission would not. She was the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff and Trump’s longest-serving chief in either term, NBC News and Axios noted.

Miller responded on X by thanking Wiles “for her years of devoted service to the President and the Country, and for her friendship,” and wrote that the mission was “more clear than ever: Fight with all of our soul to support our President and defend this magnificent Republic.”

Who is Stephen Miller?

Miller has worked alongside Trump since the 2016 campaign and served as a senior policy aide in the first administration. In the second term he has been deputy chief of staff and a central figure on immigration and homeland-security priorities. The White House release framed him as a driving force behind the administration’s border and crime agenda; independent reporting by NBC News and Axios describes him as the architect of hard-line deportation policy and a MAGA favorite who has long enjoyed Trump’s trust.

NBC News reported that Miller once berated Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in 2025 over deportation numbers and demanded far higher daily detention targets. He also lowered his public profile after federal agents killed American citizens in Minneapolis earlier in 2026, and he later said the White House had received bad information after an erroneous social-media claim about one of those cases.

How did Democrats and allies react?

Democratic leaders condemned the choice. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called Miller a “dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist” and urged that he be fired, not promoted. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump “learned nothing from his historic defeat” and called Miller the architect of the administration’s most “barbaric, inhumane policies,” NBC News reported.

Republican allies and Cabinet officials praised both Wiles and Miller in comments compiled by the White House, casting the move as continuity of an “America First” agenda. Steve Bannon told NBC News that Miller “takes immediate control” and knows the issues and the surrounding ecosystem.

Why does the timing matter?

The shake-up came three days after voters rejected much of Trump’s second-term record. NBC News Exit Poll findings cited in that report said most midterm voters believed Trump’s immigration enforcement had gone too far. Axios framed the swap as Trump trading a moderating force for a maximalist champion of his agenda heading into two years with Democratic majorities likely to investigate the administration.

In mid-October, Trump had told NBC News that Wiles would “be there until the end.” Friday’s announcement reversed that public assurance after the midterm defeat.

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