Trump Replaces Susie Wiles With Stephen Miller as Chief of Staff Days After GOP Loses Congress

President Donald Trump announced Friday that Stephen Miller, his deputy chief of staff, will become White House chief of staff on Monday, Nov. 9. Susie Wiles, who has held the job since Inauguration Day, is moving to what Trump called "the Trump Political Operation."

The change comes three days after Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate.

"I am pleased to announce that Mr. Stephen Miller, the current Deputy Chief of Staff of the Trump Administration, and one of my most trusted advisors, will become the Chief of Staff starting Monday, November 9, 2026," Trump wrote on Truth Social. He added that Wiles "has done an outstanding job."

How Wiles left

Wiles gave Trump her resignation Thursday night, according to a U.S. official and a senior White House adviser who spoke to CBS News. Three sources told CBS the resignation was tied to the midterm defeats. A White House official told Fox News Digital the decision was "very amicable."

MS NOW, citing a senior White House source, reported that Trump was angry with her over the losses and that Wiles told him, "let me make this easy on you - I am going to resign." The White House has not publicly confirmed that account.

Wiles posted on X that Friday was her last day. "Serving President Trump in the White House has been the honor of a lifetime," she wrote, citing the border, tax cuts and the economy. "While my role may be changing, my commitment to the President and the mission never will."

Asked at the White House why he changed course, Trump said Wiles did a "great job" but "sometimes in life you've gotta make moves." In mid-October he had said there was "zero chance" she would be replaced soon and that she would be there "for a long time."

Wiles, 69, ran Trump's 2024 campaign and is the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff. She disclosed a breast cancer diagnosis in March and said in September she was cancer-free.

The pressure before the exit

Calls for her to go were public before the announcement. Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon said Friday that Wiles and the political consultants around her "should be removed and removed immediately." Former Trump staffer Caroline Sunshine told Fox News on Wednesday that Wiles "needs to offer her resignation to the president before he has to ask for it," adding, "Her campaign skills have not translated into governing."

Former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney had said he expected her to leave after the midterms. "It's just a natural sort of time to make that change," he said.

The defeat was wide. Al Jazeera's tally has Democrats netting seven Senate seats, with Alaska and Mississippi still counting, and holding 253 House seats with 27 races uncalled. Democrats also won Senate races in Texas, South Carolina and Kansas.

Several Justice Department officials have resigned since Election Day, including National Security Division head John Eisenberg and Jason Reding Quiñones, who led conspiracy investigations tied to Trump's critics. CNBC also lists Harmeet Dhillon of the civil rights division among them.

Who Miller is

Miller, 41, has worked for Trump since the 2016 campaign, when he joined as a speechwriter. In the second term he has run policy as deputy chief of staff and doubled as homeland security adviser. He is the central architect of the mass deportation campaign and border policy, alongside border czar Tom Homan.

Administration allies are cheering. One administration official told Fox News Digital: "A great pick. He has the trust of millions of Americans who understand that reversing mass migration is the crisis of our time." A source close to the White House told The Daily Wire he is "a war time consigliere." War Secretary Pete Hegseth backed the move.

Democrats are not. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said on X: "Donald Trump learned nothing from his historic defeat. Stephen Miller is the architect of the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this administration. Trump couldn't have made a worse choice. Our Democratic majorities will fight him every step of the way."

Rep. Robert Garcia, in line to chair the House Oversight Committee, also criticized the choice. Democrats have said they will investigate the administration's immigration policies once they take control in January.

Trump had said in recent days he thinks he can work with incoming Democratic leaders. CBS News described Miller's elevation as a doubling down on the president's approach that could lead to a more confrontational relationship. The New York Post's read was similar: a combative posture toward Democratic investigations next year.

The mood inside the building is rough. Current and former officials told MS NOW, on condition of anonymity, that morale is low, some staff are looking for exits and the president has put attention on construction projects, including a ballroom and Reflecting Pool work that each cost more than $600 million. The White House did not respond to MS NOW's request for comment.

Calley Means, a former adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., said this week on Joe Rogan's podcast that Wiles had "a stranglehold on any policy decision." That is his allegation; no one has offered evidence of it.

Wiles's deputies may also be on the way out. CBS reported it is unclear whether they will stay.

Miller starts Monday. His first test comes in January, when Democratic committee chairs can begin subpoenaing the White House he will be running.