Miller replaces Wiles as White House chief of staff after midterm defeats
The administration swaps its top staff position for a domestic policy adviser as it absorbs the loss of congressional majorities.
By Talia Bennett ·
Stephen Miller will replace Susie Wiles as White House chief of staff, President Donald Trump announced on Thursday. The move follows the Republican Party's losses in the recent midterm elections, a result that stripped the party of its majorities in both the House and the Senate.
Miller, a domestic policy adviser who helped shape the administration's immigration crackdown, steps into the role that Wiles held since 2024. Wiles was the first woman to occupy the top staff position in the West Wing. She played a central role in steering Trump to his election victory, returning him to power four years after his loss to Joe Biden.
The personnel shift signals a change in the advisory circle surrounding the president as the White House processes the election results. The midterms served as a rebuke of the administration's handling of the economy and its war with Iran. Officials now brace for congressional investigations by Democrats and expect further turnover within the West Wing and the Cabinet.
Wiles established a level of trust with Trump that none of his four first-term chiefs of staff achieved. Unlike her predecessors, she did not view her job as an attempt to fundamentally alter the president's behavior. According to people with knowledge of her role, she influenced his decisions on core issues, including the immigration crackdown, on the margins.
She pushed for the appointments of Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Many outside the government view both men as stabilizing figures. During Wiles' tenure, the president used executive power to punish political enemies, challenge the courts, and target journalists.
Since the United States entered a war with Iran in February, the administration has struggled to manage the conflict's economic and political effects. Fuel prices have spiked. While Trump publicly expressed confidence in Wiles in recent months, officials with knowledge of the dynamics said her standing with the president was shaky behind the scenes.
Trump began excluding Wiles from hiring decisions, such as the selection of an inexperienced television pundit to replace press secretary Karoline Leavitt. He also criticized his chief of staff in front of other staff members regarding decisions he had previously approved, according to people familiar with his remarks.
Following the elections, Trump told some advisers he was unhappy with Wiles and his political team. That team persuaded him to sign off on $400 million in spending by his super political action committee to help Republicans in the midterms. The president had been reluctant to approve the spending and agreed only in September.
Supporters of Wiles argued that the criticism was an effort to assign blame for a political strategy largely driven by Trump. They blamed detractors inside and outside the administration for spreading information meant to undercut her with the president, including stories about her daughter's lobbying work.
Wiles was diagnosed with breast cancer in early 2026. She stayed in her role while starting treatment and recently announced that she was cancer-free.
