Stephen Miller Issues Memos Restricting Lobbyists and Empowering Cabinet as Congress Investigations Loom

Miller reshapes West Wing

Stephen Miller began his first week as President Donald Trump’s chief of staff by issuing memos aimed at empowering Cabinet secretaries and restricting lobbyists’ influence, while he sought to consolidate control in the West Wing and distance himself from Susie Wiles.

White House spokesman Taylor Rogers praised Miller as “a loyal aide to President Trump for more than a decade” and said the chief of staff “is trusted by the President’s entire Cabinet.” Miller instituted communications changes aimed at giving Cabinet leaders more autonomy, including a ban on White House meetings with lobbyists without prior approval and streamlined West Wing staffing structures that route greater decision making authority through him.

The New York Times said Trump’s approach for congressional investigations has shifted toward threatening to treat some legislative oversight as a potential crime, with the push expected to block Democratic oversight over the next two years.

The Hill said a new memo from Miller requires White House staffers to obtain prior approval from the Office of White House Counsel if they want to meet with registered lobbyists to discuss public policy matters within the presidential complex.

Reporting for this sectionCNNThe Hill

Lobbyist access tightened

The Hill reported that Miller’s memo was sent out “last night” and described it as a “much stricter process than before,” while it said the Office of Public Liaison would continue as the primary point of contact for engagement with external stakeholders. Miller’s memo required employees to obtain prior authorization from the White House Counsel’s Office before meeting with registered lobbyists to discuss public policy matters within the presidential complex. Miller’s memo did not completely prohibit meetings with pressure groups, but it required officials to obtain authorization before receiving them inside the White House complex.

Public Liaison role2 of 6 outlets reported it · not in Los Angeles Times and 3 more▾

Miller instituted a ban on White House meetings with lobbyists without prior approval, as the administration sought to quickly consolidate control within the West Wing. The Hill said Trump named Miller as his chief of staff on the Friday after the elections, replacing Susie Wiles, who had come under criticism over her ties to lobbying groups.

Reporting for this sectionThe HillHowl.Link

Investigations and political fight

The New York Times said the White House is bracing for a spate of investigations and officials are ready to “punch back,” with the stakes centered on whether Democrats can get access to decision making and scrutinize top officials and powerful people. CNN said large swaths of the administration spent the last week consumed by infighting and leaks over fallout from revelations that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had an affair with a women suspected of having links to Chinese intelligence. The Washington Post framed the Jensen Huang furor as the first crisis for Trump’s new chief of staff, Stephen Miller, as he was restructuring the White House staff and trying to rebuild after a disastrous midterm election.

WIRED quoted White House spokesperson Lauren Bis saying Miller will continue to deliver “historic successes for the American people,” while WIRED also described Miller as an architect of the widely unpopular immigration agenda. The Hill said Republicans lost the House and Senate majorities in last week’s elections, with Democrats winning Senate seats in previously red states including Texas, South Carolina, Kansas and Mississippi, setting the context for the administration’s preparations for oversight fights.

Reporting for this sectionThe New York TimesCNN