The first major White House personnel change after Tuesday’s Republican midterm losses arrived late Friday, when President Trump announced that Susie Wiles would leave as chief of staff and Stephen Miller would take over the job.
The timing made the announcement difficult to separate from the election fallout, even though Trump said the change was not a response to the results, but clearly it was. Republicans lost control of both the House and Senate on Tuesday, and Trump had told CBS News only hours before the Wiles announcement that he expected to make “maybe a few changes” to his team.
Wiles submitted her resignation Thursday night and will leave after serving nearly two years as Trump’s chief of staff, according to AP reporting. Miller, who has served as deputy chief of staff for policy and has been one of Trump’s closest advisers since the 2016 campaign, will formally take over Monday.
A Late Friday Announcement
The White House made the change public late Friday afternoon, a familiar Washington window for personnel news that administrations often prefer to release after the week’s main news cycle has begun winding down.
Trump praised Wiles in announcing the move and described her tenure as successful. The White House statement said Miller would become the 33rd White House chief of staff and highlighted his work on immigration, crime and administration policy.
Wiles said serving as chief of staff had been “the honor of a lifetime” and is expected to remain involved with Trump’s outside political operation. Her departure makes her the first major senior White House official to leave in the immediate aftermath of the 2026 midterms.
Trump Had Already Hinted Changes Were Coming
The announcement came only hours after Trump acknowledged in an interview with 60 Minutes that he was considering personnel changes following the election. Asked whether anyone would be fired after Republicans lost both chambers of Congress, Trump replied that there could be “a few changes.”
CBS News reported that the Wiles announcement followed shortly after that interview. Trump also suggested that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth was safe for the moment, despite questions inside the administration about additional changes.
Trump has publicly rejected the idea that Wiles was being pushed out because of the election, saying it was simply time for a change. Still, the timing puts her departure at the front of what could become a broader White House reshuffle after Republicans suffered heavy losses around the country.
Stephen Miller Moves Into the Top Job
Miller has been one of Trump’s longest-serving and most influential advisers. He worked on the 2016 campaign, served in the first Trump administration and returned to the White House in 2025 as deputy chief of staff for policy.
He has been particularly influential on immigration, border policy and executive actions, and his promotion moves one of the administration’s most powerful policy advisers into the job responsible for overseeing the broader White House operation.
Reuters reported that Miller’s elevation comes as the administration prepares for a different political environment in Washington, with Democrats set to control both chambers of Congress when the new session begins.
That will mean a White House dealing with a more difficult legislative path, Democratic committee chairs and a Congress with greater ability to conduct investigations and issue subpoenas. Miller will now be responsible for helping manage that environment while coordinating the administration’s agenda for the final two years of Trump’s term.
Wiles Is the First Major Post-Midterm Departure
Wiles had been widely credited with bringing more discipline to Trump’s 2024 campaign and his second White House operation. She also became the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff and lasted longer in the job than any of Trump’s chiefs of staff during his first term.
Her departure is therefore more notable than a routine staff change. She was one of the central figures in Trump’s return to the White House and remained at the center of the administration through its first two years.
Whether additional changes follow is still unclear. Trump has publicly suggested they may, and the scale of the Republican losses has already triggered a wider argument inside the party over strategy, policy and how to approach the next two years.
For now, Wiles is the first major name to leave. Miller takes over Monday as the White House begins adjusting to a very different Congress than the one Trump had when his second term began.