Trump Appoints Stephen Miller as Chief of Staff After Election Rebuke
The appointment comes days after voters rejected Republican candidates and signals a continuation of hardline immigration policies.
At a glance
- President Donald Trump named Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff on Friday.
- Miller helped design past policies including family separations and travel restrictions from Muslim-majority countries.
- Democrats say they will investigate Miller, though they face limits in curbing immigration enforcement agencies.
President Donald Trump has appointed Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff in Washington, announcing the move on Friday after voters rejected Republican candidates in Tuesday's elections. The decision places a central architect of the administration's hardline immigration agenda in one of the most powerful roles in the executive branch.
Miller, 41, has worked alongside Trump for more than a decade and helped shape policies such as the travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries and the zero tolerance approach that separated more than 5,600 children from their parents and caregivers at the US-Mexico border. He has also pushed for the rapid deportation of undocumented children and sought to curtail legal immigration.
The article says Miller was responsible for a series of immigration raids involving masked agents in military gear operating in residential streets. It also reports that, after immigration agents shot and killed a nurse named Alex Pretti during raids in Minneapolis, Miller suggested Trump could invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy military troops. Additionally, Miller developed the legal rationale used to label Venezuelan immigrants, including asylum seekers, as foreign terrorists linked to the Tren de Aragua cartel.
Faisal Al-Juburi, co-chief executive of the Texas-based nonprofit Raíces, said the promotion guarantees an acceleration of mass deportations and brute force in neighborhoods. Trump's defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, called Miller a true patriot in a congratulatory social media post.
Democrats, who have retaken control of Congress, governor's offices and statehouses, plan to investigate Miller. Representative Robert Garcia of California, expected to lead the House oversight committee, said Miller should lawyer up. Senator Alex Padilla pledged to use oversight, investigations, subpoenas and federal funding leverage to hold the administration accountable.
However, Democrats may have limited power to restrain immigration agencies. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is set to expand its workforce, arrests and detentions are at record highs, and enforcement agencies have $70 billion in funding through 2029. Miller previously blocked a 2018 deal that would have provided $25 billion for a border wall in exchange for protections for immigrants brought to the US as children.
The piece notes that Miller's policies have alienated parts of Trump's 2024 coalition, including many Latino voters, but suggests he is unlikely to change course.
Source: The Guardian World.
Questions and answers
- Who did Donald Trump name as chief of staff?
- Donald Trump named Stephen Miller as White House chief of staff.
- What role did Stephen Miller play in previous immigration policies?
- Miller helped devise the travel ban targeting Muslim-majority countries and the zero tolerance policy that separated more than 5,600 children from their parents at the border.
- Can Democrats block Miller's agenda?
- Democrats control Congress but say they have limited ability to rein in immigration enforcement agencies, which have $70 billion in funding through 2029.
