STEPHING ON TOES

Micro Manager Miller’s New White House Rule Revealed

Trump’s chief of staff has issued a new diktat to White House workers.

Stephen Miller has issued a new set of rules for his underlings, according to a memo sent to White House staff.

Donald Trump’s newly appointed chief of staff was brought in after Susie Wiles’ ouster, following the GOP’s midterm election rout.

Miller is expected to bring a different flavor to the West Wing and has already issued a sweeping new rule on speaking to lobbyists, according to a note seen by Politico.

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Under the diktat, White House staff must seek prior approval from the Office of White House Counsel before meeting with a lobbyist, the news site revealed.

“No President in history has fought more relentlessly, selflessly or courageously for the American People than President Trump. Following his example, White House staff are expected to dedicate their time unwaveringly to the working people of the nation,” the memo said.

The requirement will affect employees who meet lobbyists at the White House complex regarding government policy.

Politico cited 12 sources who said that Miller has an uneasy relationship with lobbyists. He is said to be hard to budge on issues, and his commitment to his own ideology and to Trump means he steers away from relationship-based favors.

With that in mind, the new rule will come as a surprise to few on K Street, the Washington, D.C., hive of law firms, advocacy groups, and think tanks.

“The thing with Stephen is, he’s not someone that a lobbyist goes in and has to crack or try to win over. He doesn’t operate based on relationships. He operates based on policy outcomes that will advance the president’s agenda,” Ballard Partners lobbyist Hunter Morgen told Politico.

It’s a big contrast to Wiles, who herself was once affiliated with Ballard, and is understood to have put greater stock in maintaining such relationships inside the Beltway.

But some think the new Miller era will be different, rather than revolutionary.

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“Even in his deputy chief of staff role, he cared enough to be at Rose Garden dinners and Christmas parties and events that the donor community was invited to, like they do in all administrations,” one Republican lobbyist familiar with White House events said. “So it’s not like he’s an alien to that scene… it’s just going to be done differently.”

“President Trump’s loyalty is to the American people, not lobbyists. His team is dedicated to advancing the President’s agenda, not the agenda of D.C. lobbyists. All of the White House components continue to work in lockstep to implement President Trump’s America First agenda,” said White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers.

Miller’s new era has already seen plenty of change. He and his wife, Katie Miller, are understood to have been speaking with people about working at the White House, three sources told MS NOW. Some staff left around the same time as Wiles.

Former Homeland Security official Miles Taylor described Miller as a “ferocious micromanager” during a conversation with The News Agents podcast. He said it’s “because he knows that’s how you get things done in Washington.”

Sources told MS NOW that this management style has gone so far that Miller has involved himself in managing staffers’ parking spots.

Katie Miller is not expected to join the administration, although she has stepped away from her podcast and Elon Musk’s SpaceX, in which she has sold her stock.

The mother of four previously said she had made the decision to “do what’s best for my children and our family.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

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Harry ThompsonNews Reporter

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