Here’s a recap of where things stand so far
-
Stephen Miller, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest allies and architect of the administration’s hardline deportation agenda, will now be the White House chief of staff. The role is a promotion for Miller, who currently serves as an adviser. Trump said that Miller will start the job on Monday 9 November, less than a week after Republicans’ crushing defeat in the midterm elections.
-
Wiles will now take a role in Trump’s political operation, which includes his Super Pac Maga Inc. On social media, she said that serving the president has been “the honor of a lifetime”. Wiles has been in the president’s orbit for over a decade, and prior to her role at the White House, she managed, alongside Chris LaCivita, Trump’s winning 2024 presidential campaign.
-
Trump later told reporters that he decided to promote Miller because he “wanted to make a change”. He praised Wiles, and said that Miller had been by his side “from the beginning”. “Sometimes in life you have to make moves,” the president said.
-
Meanwhile, Democrats blasted Trump’s decision, after Republicans faced a drubbing in the midterm elections. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said that the president “learned nothing from his historic defeat”, and Congressman Robert Garcia – poised to be the chair of the House oversight committee – advised Miller to “lawyer up”. Garcia said that in the majority, Democrats on his panel will “continue to investigate [Stephen] Miller for his misconduct, and we will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts”.
Key events
The NAACP’s president, Derrick Johnson, has this to say about the elevation of Stephen Miller, a longtime promoter of white nationalism, to the role of White House chief of staff:
“Stephen Miller belongs nowhere near the Oval Office. He belongs before a judge. He’s a thug who will be remembered as the architect of Trump’s vile and authoritarian regime.”
Hegseth and RFK Jr welcome Miller’s promotion to White House chief of staff
Pete Hegseth, the embattled former Fox weekend anchor turned US defense secretary who could face an impeachment vote as soon as next week, was quick to praise new White House chief of staff Stephen Miller on social media, posting a meme of the two men together, with the caption “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic.” Hegseth tagged both Miller and the White House on X, Elon Musk’s rebranded, rightwing Twitter, to make sure they were aware of his post.
Hegseth, who appears to be leading a coordinated social-media campaign to save his job, used the same caption for a previous post on Thursday, which featured images of himself and one of Donald Trump raising his fist moments after surviving an assassination attempt in 2024.
The New York Times reports that Miller’s pitch to Trump for the job
Robert F Kennedy Jr, the health secretary, quickly followed with a post welcoming Miller’s appointment as a supporter of the so-called Make America Health Again movement. “Next to me, Stephen Miller is the strongest MAHA supporter in the administration,” Kennedy wrote. “It’s time to unleash the Kraken.”
Here’s a recap of where things stand so far
-
Stephen Miller, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest allies and architect of the administration’s hardline deportation agenda, will now be the White House chief of staff. The role is a promotion for Miller, who currently serves as an adviser. Trump said that Miller will start the job on Monday 9 November, less than a week after Republicans’ crushing defeat in the midterm elections.
-
Wiles will now take a role in Trump’s political operation, which includes his Super Pac Maga Inc. On social media, she said that serving the president has been “the honor of a lifetime”. Wiles has been in the president’s orbit for over a decade, and prior to her role at the White House, she managed, alongside Chris LaCivita, Trump’s winning 2024 presidential campaign.
-
Trump later told reporters that he decided to promote Miller because he “wanted to make a change”. He praised Wiles, and said that Miller had been by his side “from the beginning”. “Sometimes in life you have to make moves,” the president said.
-
Meanwhile, Democrats blasted Trump’s decision, after Republicans faced a drubbing in the midterm elections. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said that the president “learned nothing from his historic defeat”, and Congressman Robert Garcia – poised to be the chair of the House oversight committee – advised Miller to “lawyer up”. Garcia said that in the majority, Democrats on his panel will “continue to investigate [Stephen] Miller for his misconduct, and we will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts”.
As Donald Trump traveled to Cape Canaveral, Florida today, he told reporters that he wants Stephen Miller to “run things well” as the new White House chief of staff.
When asked what prompted Miller’s promotion, the president said that he “wanted to make a change”.
“Susie [Wiles] has done a very good job, Stephen’s been great, and we gotta make moves,” Trump said. “Sometimes in life you have to make moves.”
“Stephen’s been with me from the beginning, he gets it, very good politically … a very good manager,” Trump said on his decision to pick Miller for the top job.
Miller is also traveling with Trump to Florida for the president’s remarks at the Kennedy Space Center later today.
Wiles has taken a ‘stranglehold on policy decisions’ says ex-adviser to health secretary
Against the backdrop of Susie Wiles’ departure from the White House, it’s worth noting that Calley Means, a former senior adviser to health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr who resigned just weeks before the US midterms, said that Wiles is the most “powerful chief of staff in modern American history” who has “taken a stranglehold on policy decisions”.
Means, an architect’s of the administration’s Make America Healthy Again (Maha) agenda, claimed that Wiles’ former work as a lobbyist at Ballard partners had compromised her support for various policies, particularly his proposals to make children’s diets healthier, in order to still receive financial boosts throughout the election cycle.
“Susie said to me many times: ‘We need money for the midterms, Calley. We need money for the midterms,’” Means said on a two-hour episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast.
“It is absolutely true that [Trump’s] administration has been infiltrated by the very people that he energized voters to say he would get out of DC,” Means told Rogan. “Everything in the political strategy was based on getting enough money for the midterms, not actually doing the things that would then energize voters enough.”
Hakeem Jeffries, poised to be next House speaker, calls for Miller to be ‘fired’
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who is poised to become the next US House speaker when Democrats retake the majority in the new year, called Stephen Miller “a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands”.
Jeffries added: “His [Miller’s] presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor. Fire him today.”
Stephen Miller should ‘lawyer up’ says top oversight committee Democrat
Representative Robert Garcia, who is poised to be the chair of the House oversight committee in the next Congress, said that his panel will “continue to investigate [Stephen] Miller for his misconduct, and we will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts”, following Miller’s elevation to White House chief of staff.
“Stephen Miller should lawyer up,” the congressman said in a statement.
Democrats blast Trump’s decision to appoint Stephen Miller as chief of staff in wake of Republican midterm rout
Several Democratic lawmakers have blasted Donald Trump’s decision to appoint one of his most controversial advisers as White House chief of staff. Stephen Miller, one of the president’s pugnacious aides who crafted the administration’s hardline immigration policy agenda, is already a vocal spokesperson for the Trump White House.
Many Democrats point out that his promotion is another “sign of Trump’s contempt for the voters”, following the Republican drubbing in the midterm elections this week. The party is set to take control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in either of Trump’s terms.
“In the aftermath of an election that was a repudiation of Trump’s corruption, wars, cruelty, and indifference to the economic pain of Americans, it’s another kick in the teeth to the American people,” said Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat.
Meanwhile, Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said that the president “learned nothing from his historic defeat”.
“Stephen Miller is the architect of the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this administration,” Schumer said. “Trump couldn’t have made a worse choice. Our Democratic majorities will fight him every step of the way.”
Democrats on the House committee for homeland security added to the chorus, calling Miller a “vile, hate-filled extremist who has made cruelty his life’s work”.
“America just rejected the fear and bigotry he peddles and Trump handed him a promotion. They have learned nothing,” the ranking members wrote on social media.
Wiles on leaving White House: ‘The honor of a lifetime’
Susie Wiles said on social media that today (Friday 6 November) would be her last day on the job.
“Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime,” she wrote in a post on X. “I’m so proud to have been a part of what we’ve accomplished together from securing our border and cutting taxes to strengthening our economy and putting America First.”
She added: “While my role may be changing, my commitment to the president and the mission never will.”
Wiles has been in the president’s orbit for over a decade, and prior to her role at the White House, she managed, alongside Chris LaCivita, Trump’s winning 2024 presidential campaign.
Susie Wiles is the latest Trump ally to leave the administration. While the chief of staff role is not a Senate-confirmed position, the person (arguably) has the closest proximity to the president.
Wiles’ departure comes after Karoline Leavitt, the former White House press secretary left her role in August. Her successor Katie Zacharia only lasted five days before being ousted after a disastrous debut media briefing.
Trump promotes immigration hardliner Stephen Miller to White House chief of staff
Stephen Miller, one of Donald Trump’s fiercest allies and architect of the administration’s deportation agenda, will now be the White House chief of staff. The role is a promotion for Miller, who currently serves as an adviser.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that Miller will start the job on Monday 9 November, less than a week after Republicans’ crushing defeat in the midterm elections.
Susie Wiles, the current White House chief of staff, will now move to the president’s political operation, which includes the Trump aligned Super Pac, Maga Inc. The president said that Wiles had done an “outstanding job” in the role.
Houston mayor says police officers will limit cooperation with ICE after historic Democratic wins in Texas
After Democrats secured several historic statewide wins in Texas in the midterm elections, Houston mayor John Whitmire is one of the first local officials to announce a policy shift amid the Lone Star state’s blue wave.
At a press conference Friday, Whitmire announced an executive order that says Houston police will now limit their cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during routine traffic stops.
Officers in the country’s fourth-largest city will no longer alert ICE about if they stop an unauthorized migrant.
Whitmire said that federal agents will only be notified when an immigrant poses “a danger”, not “those that are going about their family business, work and education”.
He added there would also be no contact with ICE “over nonviolent, non-jailable offenses”.
“You write a citation or you warn them and they go about their way,” the mayor said.
The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Houston sparked backlash after an ICE officer struck a man with a car in October. The agent was subsquently indicted by a grand jury last month.
In July an ICE officer also fatally shot a Mexican homebuilder in Houston, and Whitmire called for an independent investigation of federal authorities’ action.
The relationship between local police and federal immigration enforcement has been a flashpoint of contention in several Democratic-run cities throughout the US, after Trump administration deputized several local police to carry out immigration enforcement across the country.
Houston has often been caught in the cross-hairs when Greg Abbott, the incumbent Republican governor who lost his bid for a fourth-term this week to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, threatened to withhold funding to Houston if the city’s police officers did not hold those wanted for ICE beyond the time it takes to complete a traffic stop.
Democrats start plotting as civil war breaks out among Republicans – podcast
Following the Democratic tidal wave in this week’s midterm elections, Jonathan Freedland hosted a live panel to look at what happens next – for Donald Trump, the Republicans who might want to succeed him, and for Democrats looking ahead to 2028.
My colleague David Smith joined him, along with Tara Setmayer, a co-founder and CEO of the Seneca project; the Guardian’s global editor, Devika Bhat; Adam Smith, a professor of US politics and political history at the University of Oxford; and the clinical psychologist, author and political commentator Mary Trump.
Democrat Scott Colom currently leads by 1,936 votes in US Senate race in Mississippi
As of 11:56am ET, Colom has received 466,959 votes, while his opponent, Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith has received 465,023, according to the Associated Press.
On Thursday night, Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson said that 6,936 affidavit ballots have now been processed, with roughly 80% of them accepted.
He said that there are roughly 3,300 absentee mail-in ballots still out.
Amy Acton says she has ‘no intention’ of speaking to Vivek Ramaswamy
Acton, the governor-elect of Ohio, said on Friday that she has “no intention” of speaking to her Republican opponent, Ramaswamy, after his campaign aired an attack ad featuring Acton’s estranged mother.
“I have no intention of speaking to him,” Acton said. “I do believe that leaders’ words matter, and we need to hold folks accountable.”
Acton said that Ramaswamy running the ad “was a terrible and despicable thing to do, and I think he did it because they were struggling in their campaign.”
At this time, Democrats hold 253 seats in the House, and Republicans hold 160.
There are 22 House seats that have not yet been called.
