California Governor Gavin Newsom has his guesses on which Trump administration official will get the boot next.
Newsom, 58, responded on Saturday to a Daily Mail article alleging that Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security advisor, wields power over the Department of Homeland Security. The report suggests that Miller, 40, rules DHS with an iron fist, at times in direct opposition to what President Donald Trump wants.
“START THE COUNTDOWN !!!” Newsom’s press office shared on X. “Stephen Miller is going to be fired!” The post was accompanied by a photo of Voldemort, the bald villain of the Harry Potter franchise.
Miller has been the driving force behind some of the Trump administration’s harshest immigration policies. DHS sources told the Daily Mail that he has undermined Trump’s orders, including the president’s request that immigration enforcement avoid targeting farm workers in California during their raids last June.
“Stephen got on the call the next day, and said ‘We’re discussing that internally’ and that we should just disregard what [Trump] said,” one official said. “It was like the President never said anything. It was just like Stephen was in charge.”
The Daily Beast reached out to the White House and DHS for comment.
Miller has reportedly been so demanding toward DHS and ICE officials that his tantrums have caused health problems. ICE Director Todd Lyons, 52, was allegedly hospitalized twice for “stress-related issues” stemming from Miller. Lyons was “visibly stressed and struggling to make the decisions” required for the job, sources told Politico.
The advisor frequently “yelled at Lyons during morning phone calls with administration officials.”
Lyons denied that the White House caused his stress in a statement to Politico. He also said none of these issues affected his ability to do his job.
Trump is known to surround himself with sycophants, so it may spell trouble for Miller if he undermines the president. He already seemed to experience the consequences of his overstepping in the aftermath of Renee Good’s and Alex Pretti’s deaths.
He was iced out of a meeting in which Trump and DHS discussed how to handle the fatal shootings in Minneapolis.
Sources told the Daily Mail that Miller had tried to push immigration enforcement to “force confrontations” with protestors following the deaths of Good and Pretti.
“This is why he f---ing needs to be fired,” a senior DHS official said. “It’s absolutely nuts. He’s the architect of Renee Good and Alex Pretti’s deaths.”
Miller’s tight grip on DHS has also made lawmakers skeptical of incoming Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin’s ability to run the agency. Some insiders believe Miller was partly to blame for outgoing DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s downfall, after she said she acted on behalf of Miller and the president.
Ahead of Mullin’s confirmation on March 23, New Jersey Senator Andy Kim raised questions about who is really in charge at DHS.
“It’s really Stephen Miller that’s calling the shots there,” Kim, 43, told Politico on Tuesday. “I don’t trust anybody that’s in that role if Stephen Miller’s just going to continue to dictate what happens.”
