From immigration to DOGE, Stephen Miller is more powerful in the White House than ever

Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters via CNN Newsource

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Nearly every day since President Donald Trump entered office three weeks ago, he has convened a huddle in the West Wing with two of his senior-most aides to plot out the next steps dramatically reshaping the federal government.

One is his chief of staff, Susie Wiles.

The other is Stephen Miller, whose title – deputy chief of staff for policy – in many ways understates the massive influence he commands both with the president and across the government.

Miller is helping to drive a maximalist immigration enforcement agenda; one he has spent much of his career designing. And he’s working closely with his ally, Elon Musk, on the billionaire’s Trump-blessed mission to shrink the size of the federal government and rid it of “deep state” bureaucrats.

Miller is now one of the most powerful people in government, with a direct line to Trump and – perhaps more importantly – a canny ability to translate Trump’s policy ideas into action.

“The American people voted for dramatic change implemented by Donald Trump,” Miller told CNN in an interview last week. “So, it is essential for him to get control of government.”

The early efforts by the administration to enact sweeping change through presidential authority, dismantle elements of the federal bureaucracy and roll back or eliminate entire departments have drawn legal challenges, cries of outrage and, in at least one instance, a reversal on the part of the White House.

They have also closely mapped with a plan drawn up during the interregnum period between Trump’s first and second presidencies to seize control of the federal government while testing the bounds of executive authority.

Much of it was orchestrated, in part, by Miller.

From a small West Wing office down the hall from the Oval Office, Miller is a leading force behind a relentless flood-the-zone strategy inside the White House, helping guide the president through the opening weeks of his second term. It’s a playbook Miller has spent years thinking about.

Miller’s title means he operates without Senate confirmation, but he is far more influential than many officials who do. He pushes traditional boundaries and norms without apology, driving the birthright citizenship order quickly blocked by the courts and the funding freeze that was abruptly rescinded.

Miller is seldom at the president’s side, or even in the same room, when the cameras are rolling, but he meets daily with Trump and Wiles to sketch out the executive orders to be signed on a given day. The working relationship between Miller and Wiles, aides said, is one of the most closely watched dynamics in the West Wing.

Miller, who now receives Secret Service protection, was a fixture at campaign rallies and frequently appears on television or holding court with reporters on the north driveway of the White House.

“Susie recedes from the spotlight,” one official who has observed them said. “Stephen rushes toward it.”


The survivor


At 39, Miller is exactly half Trump’s age, but one of his longest-serving and most trusted advisers. He joined Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016 when seasoned GOP operatives scoffed at the New York real estate developer’s chances. He has spent most of the last decade dedicated to serving Trump.

Among Trump’s aides, Miller is the rare adviser who served all four years of the president’s first term and returned to serve again this year. Unlike so many Trump confidantes who saw their fortunes fade, his favor with the president has only appeared to grow.

His staying power, according to people familiar with West Wing dynamics, stems from an ability to channel Trump’s political instincts and apply the president’s rhetoric to actual policymaking, all while navigating Trump’s unpredictable impulses.

Miller’s unbridled ambition has so far not subjected him to the fate of so many Trump aides who ran afoul of the cardinal rule of staff-work: don’t outshine the boss. Ultimately, aides said, Miller will be judged by the success or failure of the aggressive executive strategy that is straining legal bounds.

Long Trump’s main speechwriter, Miller is noted among colleagues for an ability to translate Trump’s voice into text. In the second administration, however, officials said Miller has stepped back from the speechwriting role as he focuses on executing Trump’s policies. Aides Ross Worthington and Vincent Haley, who ran policy for the Trump campaign, have assumed those responsibilities.

Where he appears poised to expand his portfolio is in dealing with Capitol Hill, where he served for many years as an immigration-obsessed top aide to Sen. Jeff Sessions, who was attorney general in Trump’s first administration before being pushed aside. Miller has joined Trump for meetings with senators to outline the administration’s early strategy.

Miller’s strategy in the Trump 2.0 era has been to gather more support for his sweeping policy plans by working Capitol Hill and Trump allies directly, sources familiar with the situation told CNN.

While Miller maintained intense internal influence at the White House during Trump’s first term, he has expanded his relationships with those throughout Washington more significantly in the new administration, the sources said. He now speaks regularly with lawmakers, informing them of policy priorities, and makes frequent trips to Capitol Hill – some of which took place even before Trump was inaugurated – to brief key players on his plans.

Sources close to both Trump and Miller note how he has succeeded in maintaining his relationship with Trump where many others have not. Despite being one of the people closest to the president, he never sought to use that proximity for financial gain in the years after Trump departed the White House.

The group he founded while Trump was out of office, America First Legal Foundation, was intended as a legal resource for conservative causes. It emerged as a frequent opponent to several Biden administration initiatives by mounting court challenges, succeeding in blocking policies it says are examples of reverse discrimination. Miller appeared in television commercials promoting or soliciting money for the group, which brought in tens of millions of dollars.

Miller has also thrived by keeping any disagreements with Trump private. While he makes his opinions known, once Trump sets his mind on something Miller knows when to abandon his personal opinions and cease pushing Trump to go a different direction – something that has hindered others’ relationships with the president.


A growing policy empire


In Trump’s first presidency, Miller’s laser-like focus on immigration gained him a reputation among the president’s opponents as something of a mastermind, intent on waging a battle not only against illegal immigration but against migrants themselves.

He remains intensely focused on the issue, acting as a top adviser to the president on how best to execute his hardline pledges. He convenes a standing morning call, seven days a week, with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House border czar Tom Homan, and officials from relevant agencies to discuss the latest on the enforcement front.

Yet if his first focus is immigration, his portfolio now is so much more.

Like many of Trump’s aides, Miller was often frustrated during the first Trump administration, and he developed a distrust of federal workers who, in his view, worked to stymie Trump’s agenda.

But the first go-around also proved instructive in how to pull the levers of government and reach deep into federal agencies to exert Trump’s will in new and expansive fashion.

Now, Miller’s remit extends to practically all policies that are emerging from the White House. In the transition period following Trump’s victory last November, Miller worked to prepare the dozens of executive orders that Trump signed upon taking office, hoping for a swell of activity that would overwhelm the president’s opponents.

He has cultivated a close alliance with Musk, whose Department of Government Efficiency is inserting itself into myriad government agencies looking to identify waste. It’s a mission both men share. Miller’s wife works as a spokeswoman for DOGE.

“Either Donald Trump gets political control over this government and ends the waste, abuse and fraud on the American people or we let bureaucrats autopilot federal spending,” Miller said in the CNN interview.

Miller is active in providing Trump’s communications aides with talking points, and often walks them through major points of new measures to emphasize the nuances of the policy.

During Trump’s first term, Democrats frequently protested Miller’s actions on immigration and called on him to resign. So far in this term, critics have been more focused on the actions of Musk and his DOGE allies than on Miller.

The public resistance to Miller, which came alive in Trump’s first term when more than 80 Democratic members of Congress called for his resignation, has been more muted. So far, Musk has emerged as a far bigger lightning rod for Trump’s critics.

Within MAGA-world, Miller is a star, drawing booming applause and enthusiastic cheers during a Trump rally on the eve of the inauguration.

“Hello to the Golden Age of America and welcome back Donald J. Trump,” Miller told the crowd at Capitol One Arena in Washington. “It’s been four long years. It’s felt like 400 years.”

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