Susie Wiles out, Stephen Miller in as Trump's chief of staff after midterms
Trump named Stephen Miller White House chief of staff from Monday, 9 November, replacing Susie Wiles three days after Republicans lost both houses of Congress.
President Donald Trump has replaced his chief of staff. On Friday, 6 November, he announced on Truth Social that Stephen Miller will take over as White House chief of staff from Monday, 9 November, and that Susie Wiles is moving to his political organisation. Wiles wrote on X that Friday was her last day in the job.
It is the biggest change in Trump’s team since Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate in this week’s midterm elections, and it came days after the White House had brushed off talk that Wiles might go.
Who is Stephen Miller?
Miller, 41, has been deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser. He is best known as the architect of the administration’s hard-line immigration policies, from mass deportations to tighter visa rules, and he has been with Trump since the 2016 campaign. Moving him into the top job puts the most combative voice in the building in charge of running it.
Why Susie Wiles went
Wiles ran Trump’s 2024 campaign and became the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff. She had promised in late 2025 that Republicans would win the midterms. After losses in states such as Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina, some figures on the party’s right openly called for her to be fired. Trump has not said she was pushed, and he described her new role as leading his political operation. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in March this year.
The Miller family and the blame game
Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, a former administration spokesperson who now hosts a podcast, drew mockery this week after blaming busy mothers for staying home on election day. Vice President JD Vance has given a different reason: “The reason we lost is the war,” he wrote on X, pointing at the Iran conflict.
Why it matters for Pakistan
The chief of staff controls who reaches the president and what lands on his desk. With Miller in charge, expect immigration and visas to stay at the top of the agenda, which matters for Pakistani students, workers and families applying to the US. With Democrats taking Congress in January, the White House is also likely to rely more on executive orders, the area Miller knows best.
Miller starts on Monday; the first test will be how the White House handles a Congress that turns Democratic in January.
