GOP Lawmakers Erupt Over Trump’s Promotion of Stephen Miller

President Trump’s decision to elevate Stephen Miller to White House chief of staff has triggered an outpouring of anger from elements of his own party, with multiple Republican lawmakers blasting the move just days after the GOP suffered historic losses in Tuesday’s midterm elections.Mr. Trump announced the appointment Friday afternoon via Truth Social, confirming that Susie Wiles had been ousted from the role. Mr. Miller, who has served as deputy chief of staff and spearheaded the administration’s immigration agenda, will now take over as the president’s top aide.The timing stunned many on Capitol Hill. “There needs to be some self-reflection for Republicans,” Representative Marlin Stutzman, Indiana Republican, told Politico. “There should be some heads rolling at the White House because we lost badly.” Hours later, when Mr. Trump named Mr. Miller to the post, Mr. Stutzman offered a blunt verdict: “Horrible decision.”One House Republican, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Fox News they were in “utter disbelief.” Another, informed of the appointment, replied simply: “Please tell me you’re lying to me right now, just to get a reaction,” according to Politico.The switch from the staid chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who almost never appeared in the news, to the vocal Mr. Miller may foreshadow a coming internal debate over the meaning of the party’s stunning midterm defeats and what it will take to win back lost ground in 2028.What most agree on is that the elevation of Mr. Miller — seen as the architect of some of Mr. Trump’s signature policies on immigration, DEI, and education — signals a doubling down on those policies and a lack of interest in compromising with the incoming Democrats in Congress. What they disagree on is whether that is a good idea. The Health and Human Services secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., is among those relishing the appointment of Mr. Miller as the opening salvo in a full-on battle with Democrats. “It’s time to unleash the Kraken,” he said in a post on X in which he described Mr. Miller as the administration’s strongest supporter of his MAHA movement. But Republicans must reckon with a brutal election night that handed Democrats control of both the House and Senate. Democrats are on pace to win more than 250 House seats and at least 54 in the Senate, registering gains in states that have been solid red for decades. While analysts say Mr. Trump’s handling of the economy and Iran war drove much of the swing, his immigration crackdown also alienated voters in key battlegrounds, particularly among Hispanic and Latino communities in states like Texas.“Because of his immigration positions, I just think we ruined a lot of our goodwill with Latino voters,” Mr. Stutzman told Fox.Other Republicans who spoke with Fox were even more pointed in their criticism of Mr. Miller. One GOP lawmaker said Mr. Miller repeatedly brushed off warnings from colleagues who felt the crackdown was costing the party support back home.“I’ve been in several group meetings where a lot of us have told him, ‘Your immigration enforcement policies are backfiring back home, our people are mad, our businesses are mad — even in deep red districts — and it is impacting not just the voters, but the donors, and everybody top to bottom,'” the lawmaker told Fox. “But it looked to me like Stephen Miller was only after numbers … he would not listen to us.”Representative Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring, said Mr. Miller’s influence has come at a steep political cost. “I think he’s greatly hurt the administration and cost us many seats on Tuesday,” Mr. Bacon told Fox before the promotion was announced. “He took an immigration policy that favored the president two to one in the public, over-reached and made it two to one unfavorable.” Asked about Mr. Miller’s new role, Mr. Bacon added, “Many Republicans don’t like him.”A fourth GOP lawmaker told Fox: “Stephen is a megalomaniac who should have never been given the keys to the Ferrari. That being said, he’s not the reason why we lost … no one knows who Stephen Miller is in our districts.”Not every Republican voice was critical. Vice President JD Vance praised Mr. Miller as “an amazing patriot” who will “do great things,” while the chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, Andy Harris, credited him with a “proven record focused on securing our border.” White House spokesman Lauren Bis told Fox that Mr. Miller “has been a key player in delivering on President Trump’s America First agenda since day one.”The discontent reflects a deeper unease rippling through the party. Politico reported that many Republicans privately fear there will be no broader reckoning over the midterm wipeout, with Mr. Trump instead doubling down on confrontation rather than course-correcting. Mr. Miller, for his part, thanked Mr. Trump for the promotion, writing on social media that he is “honored beyond words to serve” and that “the mission now is more clear than ever: Fight with all of our soul to support our President.”

GOP Lawmakers Erupt Over Trump’s Promotion of Stephen Miller

GOP Lawmakers Erupt Over Trump’s Promotion of Stephen Miller

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