Tillis says Miller is ‘worst of all possible choices’ for chief of staff role

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) blasted President Trump’s Friday decision to replace outgoing White House chief of staff Susie Wiles with top adviser Stephen Miller, saying the president “needs to rethink” his decision.

“I’ve criticized a lot of the president’s advisors for bad advice that I think … created some of the environment on Tuesday, but the president made this decision, and the president needs to rethink it,” Tillis told CNN’s Jake Tapper Friday.

“It is a colossal mistake, and the last thing we need 72 hours after the a– whooping we got on Tuesday,” he added.

Wiles’s replacement is the first major White House shakeup since Republicans’ rocky midterm performance , losing at least seven Senate seats and 42 House seats as of Friday — with several races still outstanding.

Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement tactics, which Miller architected, contributed to the president’s approval rating hitting a career low ahead of Election Day — likely impacting the GOP’s performance. One especially contentious operation at the start of 2026 took place in Minneapolis, during which two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal agents. At the time, Miller referred to the victims as domestic terrorists .

“This past Tuesday, Republicans lost because we lost the narrative on the border, a success that the president should have been heralding,” Tillis said. “Now we’re talking about putting one of the most partisan, polarizing figures, and not only polarizing in terms of Republicans and Democrats, but even among Republicans.”

Just after the election night, Trump reportedly told aides Miller’s immigration campaign had gone too far, according to The Wall Street Journal. Tillis said it “doesn’t make sense” why Trump would promote Miller if he thought immigration had become a political liability.

“What was inappropriate is to take a guy who made us lose on the immigration issue,” Tillis said. “So no, he doesn’t get a passing grade for me, even judging on the kind of curve that I made with some people among his advisers.”

The GOP senator is frequent critic of some of Trump’s cabinet and other advisers. In March, he erupted at then Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in hearing, saying he was “disappointed” in her job performance.

In a viral post back in January, Tillis also compared Noem and Miller to “sycophants.”

The North Carolina Republican announced he would not run for reelection this year, and Gov. Roy Cooper (D-N.C.) won the open seat to replace him by nearly 20 points. The blue wave hit the Tar Heel State as hard as any Tuesday night; Democrats flipped five of its congressional seats, with five races still outstanding, according to Decision Desk HQ.