Tillis calls on Miller to depart White House: ‘Out of his depth’

While Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem will soon depart her Cabinet-level post, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) also wants White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller to leave President Trump’s inner circle.

Tillis told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” on Sunday that Miller, a longtime adviser to Trump dating back to his first presidential campaign, is “out of his depth” and has been “repeatedly responsible for embarrassments” for the administration.

When Tapper asked whether Tillis thought Miller should be relieved of his duties, the retiring senator replied, “Oh, of course I do.”

“Not only does Stephen really want to just paint a picture. He’s not worried about substance. He’s more worried about form,” Tillis added later.

“But I also think that he has an outsized influence over the operations of the Cabinet,” he continued. “And I believe we have got qualified Cabinet members there that sometimes are doing less than what they want to because of his direction and his outsized influence.”

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The North Carolina Republican previously criticized both Miller and Noem for asserting that Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens, were acting unlawfully when they were fatally shot by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis earlier this year.

Now, as Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) prepares for his confirmation hearings to replace Noem at the helm of DHS, Tillis believes his Senate colleague “will be independent” and “driven by data” in implementing Trump’s deportation agenda. Tillis has specifically criticized Miller for pushing to increase immigration arrests.

“He will leverage law enforcement resources, expertise, people like [White House border czar] Tom Homan to get things right,” the GOP senator said of Mullin. “And if he doesn’t, we’d hold him accountable.”

“But I have a lot of confidence in my friend, and I’m looking forward to him getting this department under control,” the retiring senator added.

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