Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) publicly called on President Donald Trump to remove White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller from the administration Sunday, labeling him an “embarrassment” and a “big problem.”
Tillis delivered his remarks during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” where host Jake Tapper pressed the senator on Miller’s future inside the Trump White House.
The North Carolina Republican, who is not seeking reelection, wasted no time when Tapper asked directly whether Miller should be fired.
“Oh, of course I do,” Tillis replied.
Tillis connected his call for Miller’s removal to the recent high-profile departure of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was fired by President Trump last week.
“It gives me pause that you have people like Stephen Miller calling the shots,” Tillis told Tapper.
“It was Stephen Miller that was talking about a terrorist brandishing a gun. It was Stephen Miller who said it was the position of the United States that we should go after Greenland.”
Tillis continued laying out his case against the senior adviser, adding that Miller has “been repeatedly responsible for embarrassment for the President of the United States by acting too quickly. Speaking first and thinking later.”
The senator argued that Miller’s reach extends well beyond communications and into the operational decisions of the executive branch.
“He’s not worried about substance. He’s more worried about form,” Tillis said.
“But I also think that he has an outsized influence over the operations of the Cabinet. And I believe we’ve got qualified Cabinet members there that sometimes are doing less than what they want to because of his direction and his outsized influence.”
Tillis went further, stating plainly, “He’s a big problem in this administration, he has been from the beginning.”
Tillis had previously been the first Republican senator to publicly call for Noem to step down, and he has raised objections to Miller on prior occasions as well.
His latest broadside lands as the administration continues pressing forward with an aggressive immigration enforcement agenda that remains broadly popular with Republican voters.
Miller serves as Trump’s deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security adviser, and is widely considered one of the primary architects of the administration’s hardline border and deportation policies.
Within Republican circles, Tillis’s comments are being viewed in some quarters as a political parting shot from a senator who no longer faces the voters he once represented.
A White House official pointed to a recent public defense of Miller by a large contingent of Senate Republicans.
Last month, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) led more than a dozen Republican colleagues in standing behind Miller’s role in the administration.
“People can disagree with Stephen on rhetoric, and they can disagree with him on policy, but the question is, ‘Is Stephen Miller in jeopardy in Trump World?’ Absolutely not,” Graham said.
Other Senate Republicans framed Miller’s work as central to delivering on the promises that carried Trump back to the White House.
“Because of him and other members of the president’s team, critical priorities like stopping deadly fentanyl, unleashing America’s energy, and bringing much-needed economic relief for working families are now a reality for Pennsylvania,” said Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA).
Tillis expressed support for Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, whom Trump tapped to replace Noem at DHS.
Tillis described Mullin as a “fiercely independent” leader and said he expects Mullin to tell Miller “to stay in his lanes.”
