Donald Trump’s new far-right White House chief of staff is about to be hit with the full weight of the Democrat-controlled Congress.
The president announced in a post on Friday that he was promoting Stephen Miller to the top job and that chief of staff Susie Wiles would be moving to work for his “political operation.”
Miller is the architect of some of Trump’s most controversial policies, including his immigration crackdown and expansion of ICE.
One of Democrats’ top priorities in their new majority will be investigating ICE’s violent activity after agents killed two American citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, earlier this year.
The MAGA shakeup at the White House came just days after Trump was dealt a catastrophic blow, with Democrats flipping both the House and Senate by wide margins in the midterms, which will give them major new powers to launch probes into Trump and his allies come January.
Top Democrats indicated on Friday that Miller was among their top targets as they launch probes into illegal activity and corruption in the Trump administration.
“Stephen Miller should lawyer up,” said House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Robert Garcia.
“Just days after the American people rejected his corrupt and lawless presidency, Donald Trump is doubling down. Stephen Miller is the architect of the unconstitutional ICE raids that have terrorized our communities and kidnapped and killed American citizens and immigrant families,” Garcia said.
“Oversight Democrats will continue to investigate Miller for his conduct, and we will fight against his hateful policies in Congress and the courts,” he added.
Democrats coming off their massive midterm victories were in the early stages of planning which lines of investigation to pursue first and grappling with where they could work with Trump over the next two years as the president finishes out his second term.
But Miller’s promotion was the opening salvo in what will be a dogfight between the president and Democrats in control of both chambers of Congress.
“Stephen Miller is a dangerous xenophobe and reckless extremist who has American blood on his hands,” wrote Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the likely incoming House speaker on X. “His presence in government should be eradicated like a malignant tumor. Fire him today.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reacted to Trump’s announcement by warning the president learned nothing from his defeat. Come January, Democrats will hold at least 54 seats in the Senate, and could have as many as a 56-seat majority as the races in Alaska and Mississippi remain too close to call.
“Stephen Miller is the architect of the most barbaric, inhumane policies of this administration,” Schumer wrote on X. “Trump couldn’t have made a worse choice. Our Democratic majorities will fight him every step of the way.”
