WASHINGTON — White House Deputy Chief of Staff Richard Walters is leaving the administration, the first senior departure as Stephen Miller takes over as chief of staff on Monday, and both men described the exit as amicable.
“Richard has been an invaluable member of the White House and has helped deliver some of the Administration’s biggest victories,” Miller said in a statement first reported by Axios and confirmed to Fox News. “While he will be leaving us, Richard will continue to help from the outside as we continue to work with all of our strength to deliver for President Trump and his courageous fight to Save America.”
Walters thanked the outgoing chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who brought him into the West Wing. “Serving President Trump has been the honor of a lifetime and I will always be thankful to Susie Wiles for the opportunity,” he told Axios. “Stephen is building an incredible and capable team to implement the President’s agenda and I look forward to being part of it from the outside.” He offered his resignation Friday, Axios reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.
A Wiles ally
President Trump named Miller the 33rd White House chief of staff on Friday, succeeding Wiles “after her highly successful tenure,” according to the White House announcement. The release credited Miller with “driving violent crime to historic lows, securing the border at unprecedented levels, and dismantling large-scale fraud.” A White House official told Fox News Digital the transition was “very amicable” and that Wiles submitted her resignation Thursday night. The change follows the Nov. 3 midterm elections, in which Republicans lost control of both the House and the Senate, Fox News reported.
Walters was one of Wiles’s closest political lieutenants, with a relationship going back more than a decade, according to Axios. He joined the White House in May; Fox News, citing LegiStorm, dated his appointment as deputy chief of staff to May 2026.
He arrived with long Republican Party credentials. Axios described him as the longest-serving chief of staff in Republican National Committee history and reported that he played a major role in all three of Trump’s presidential campaigns. He was executive director of the 2025 inaugural committee for Trump and Vice President JD Vance, according to Georgetown University, where he was a fellow at the Institute of Politics and Public Service, Fox News reported.
What comes next
Axios called the departure the first in an expected staff shakeup, with Miller’s team poised to move into more powerful roles. Neither the White House nor Walters has said what he will do next; his statement and Miller’s both said he would keep helping the administration from outside the government.
Miller was White House deputy chief of staff before his promotion, and the White House said he “has served alongside President Trump since the very beginning.” The White House release quoted former Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich calling Miller “the administration’s most organized and competent operator” and adding, “He was born to be Donald Trump’s Chief of Staff.”
Miller’s move also has a family dimension. His wife, Katie Miller, said Sunday on X that she will stop recording new episodes of The Katie Miller Podcast. “With @StephenM taking on this new role for President Trump, I’ve decided to stop recording new podcast episodes,” she wrote, citing the time commitment and the couple’s four children, according to Fox News. Two previously recorded episodes will still be released.
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