GOP Senator Says Stephen Miller Is 'Big Problem' in the Trump Administration, Says He 'Should Go'

Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said that senior White House adviser Stephen Miller "should go," arguing that the official has exerted excessive influence over the administration and describing him as "a big problem" inside the government.

Appearing on State of the Union, Tillis was asked whether he thought Miller should be removed from his role. "Oh, of course I do," the North Carolina senator responded. "He is not worried about substance. He's more worried about form, but I also think that he has an outsized influence over the operations of the cabinet."

Tillis said that influence has constrained cabinet officials who might otherwise pursue different policies. "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," he said. "He's a big problem in this administration. He has been from the beginning."

The senator also referenced past policy controversies, saying it was Miller who "said it was the position of the United States that we should go after Greenland," and accusing him of creating situations that have embarrassed the president by "acting too quickly, speaking first, and thinking later," as The Guardian reports.

Tillis's comments come days after he had already broken with his party over leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, as he became the first Republican to call for the resignation of former DHS secretary Kristi Noem following the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, during immigration enforcement operations in Minneapolis.

During a Senate hearing, Tillis described Noem's leadership as "a disaster," telling her the department required "exceptional leadership" and that she had "demonstrated anything but that."

Tillis told CNN on Sunday that he supports the nomination of Markwayne Mullin to replace Noem and expressed hope that the Oklahoma senator would operate independently of Miller's influence.

According to reporting by The Washington Post back in December, Miller has played a central role in shaping a U.S. military campaign targeting suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific. The report said he helped push for aggressive measures against transnational criminal groups and influenced the drafting of a presidential directive authorizing lethal strikes under permissive targeting standards.

Separate reporting by The New York Times also in December also highlighted Miller's expanding role across the administration, mainly in using rarely invoked legal authorities, including the Alien Enemies Act, to accelerate deportations in the context of escalating tensions with Venezuela, reflecting his broad influence over immigration and national security policy.