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Top White House staffer leaves after Stephen Miller promoted

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Cite

Sommerlad, J. (2026, November 9). Top White House staffer leaves after Stephen Miller promoted. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-white-house-richard-walters-stephen-miller-b3081853.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Independent · collected 2026-11-09 · by Joe Sommerlad

Quick Summary

Richard Walters, deputy chief of staff at the White House under Susie Wiles, is resigning after Stephen Miller was appointed as President Trump's new chief of staff following the Republican Party’s losses in the midterms. Walters had served since May and was described as one of Wiles' closest political lieutenants. The article reports that Trump hinted at potential staff changes due to the poor midterm results but did not specify who would be affected, with Miller's promotion indicating a continuation of tough immigration policies despite some criticism for being too harsh.
Written by AI on 2026-11-09, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Richard Walters, the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Trump administration, left his position ahead of Stephen Miller's scheduled arrival as the new chief of staff on November 8, 2026. In a statement to Fox News, Miller described Walters as an "invaluable member" who would continue to support the White House from outside government. Walters had been closely associated with outgoing Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, whom President Donald Trump replaced with Miller following the midterm election results. This departure is part of a broader reshaping of the president’s senior staff.

Written for “Walters Leaves White House Leadership Role” on 2026-11-09, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans right (beta estimate) Confidence medium
Leaning: leans right for article 139069 (medium confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-11-09

Story

Walters Leaves White House Leadership Role
Politics · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans right and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Just The News
Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 95/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-09 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 4008 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Joe Sommerlad
88 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Walters, described as “one of Wiles’ closest political lieutenants,” confirmed his resignation in a statement to the publication that read: “Serving President Trump has been the honor of a lifetime and I will always be thankful to Susie Wiles for the opportunity.
Guesting on ABC News’ This Week Sunday, Jeffries was asked whether the Democrats might investigate the Defense Secretary next year after regaining the majorities in both chambers of Congress at last week’s midterms.
President Donald Trump has admitted his federal crackdown on illegal immigrants went too far and may have alienated voters at last week’s midterms, which saw Democrats take back control of Congress.
He said he agreed with Vice President JD Vance’s assessment that the unpopular Iran conflict had cost the GOP support but said he would not hesitate to attack Tehran again if he had his time over while underlining that he is “not looking to” do so currently.
With votes still being counted in the Alaska and Mississippi Senate races and beyond, Democrats currently hold a 54 to 44 majority in the Senate and are projected to win 253 seats in the House to the GOP’s 157. The results come amid a civil war brewing within the Trump administration, with insiders scrambling to assign blame, the president reportedly sounding out advisors on the potential firing of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly on “resignation watch.”
The DOJ is expected to give a press conference at 11 a.m. ET (4 p.m. GMT), it is being reported.
Fox News anchor Jesse Watters has suggested that Democratic midterms wins in deep-red Texas could mean “a Republican will never sniff the White House ever again” – unless the GOP win the state back.
Axios now reports that Vance has been lambasting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for dragging the U.S. back into the Middle East, warning the president that the war was “highly unpopular and could cost Republicans the election,” albeit to no avail.
The midterm elections are over, and that means only one thing: the simmering rivalries in the Republican and Democrat parties will bubble to the surface.
New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler has claimed that not even Jesus Christ could have won re-election in his district after losing his seat in Tuesday’s disaster for the GOP in the midterms.
Also by Joe Sommerlad
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 88 articles by Joe Sommerlad →

Topics

Axios GOP White House the Trump the White House

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 7× Miller PERSON · 3× Wiles PERSON · 3× GOP ORG · 2× Richard PERSON · 2× Susie Wiles PERSON · 2× the White House ORG · 2× Stephen Miller PERSON · 1× White House ORG · 1× the Trump ORG · 1×

Narrative

During Trump’s first term in 2018, Miller’s own uncle, retired neuropsychologist Dr David Glosser, attacked him as a “hypocrite” in an article written for Politico, in which he pointed out that their own family, which fled antisemitic pogroms in Belarus, would not have been allowed into the U.S. had he been in charge at the turn of the 20th century.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-09
Walters, described as “one of Wiles’ closest political lieutenants,” confirmed his resignation in a statement to the publication that read: “Serving President Trump has been the honor of a lifetime and I will always be thankful to Susie Wiles for the opportunity.
2026-11-09 · The Independent
Top White House staffer leaves after Stephen Miller promoted · assertive framing

Claims (21 extracted, 3 hedged)

A top White House staffer is leaving the Trump administration following the appointment of Stephen Miller as President Donald Trump’s new chief of staff, replacing “Ice Maiden” Susie Wiles. asserted
staffer → leave → Wiles
Richard Walters is leaving his post as deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs, Axios reported Sunday, making him the first to depart since Trump announced Wiles’s exit Friday. asserted
Trump → leave → exit
Her departure came after the Republicans’ disastrous performance in last week’s midterms that saw the GOP lose control of Congress. asserted
GOP → come → Congress
Walters, described as “one of Wiles’ closest political lieutenants,” confirmed his resignation in a statement to the publication that read: “Serving President Trump has been the honor of a lifetime and I will always be thankful to Susie Wiles for the opportunity. asserted
I → describe → opportunity
“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,” the 37 year-old added. asserted
old → build → outside
Miller has since told The Independent in a statement: “Richard has been an invaluable member of the White House and has helped deliver some of the administration’s biggest victories. asserted
Richard → tell → victories
“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.” asserted
we → leave → America
The Mississippian joined the White House in May as a successor to James Blair, having previously served as the longest-tenured chief of staff in Republican National Committee history, worked on all three Trump presidential campaigns and served as executive director of the president’s 2025 inaugural committee. uncertain
Mississippian → join → committee
It was suggested weeks before the midterms that Trump might go on a “rampage” and seek to blame members of his staff if the GOP failed to get over the line. uncertain
GOP → suggest → line
New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman told CNN the president raged at Wiles after the Democrats picked up wins across the country to secure a majority of 54 to 44 and counting in the Senate and at least 254 to 162 in the House of Representatives. asserted
Democrats → tell → Representatives
The president gave his first major interview since the disaster to CBS News’s 60 Minutes Sunday in which host Ross Douthat asked him: “In a previous lifetime, you were rather famous for saying ‘You’re fired,’ quite often. asserted
You → give → lifetime
After a big midterm defeat like this, do you expect to fire anyone from your team?” asserted
you → expect → team
“Yeah,” Trump answered. asserted
Trump → answer → ?
“You do a little bit. asserted
You → do → bit
I love my cabinet. asserted
I → love → cabinet
I think they’re good. asserted
they → think → ?
But I’ll be doing maybe a few changes. asserted
I → do → changes
I don’t want to mention who.” asserted
I → want → who
In the interview the president admitted his illegal immigration crackdown may have been another reason for voters turning against his party last week, conceding it had been “too tough,” but Miller’s ascent means it is unlikely to be further scaled back, given that he is known as a hardliner on the issue. uncertain
he → admit → issue
During Trump’s first term in 2018, Miller’s own uncle, retired neuropsychologist Dr David Glosser, attacked him as a “hypocrite” in an article written for Politico, in which he pointed out that their own family, which fled antisemitic pogroms in Belarus, would not have been allowed into the U.S. had he been in charge at the turn of the 20th century. asserted
he → attack → century
“I have watched with dismay and increasing horror as my nephew, an educated man who is well aware of his heritage, has become the architect of immigration policies that repudiate the very foundation of our family’s life in this country,” Glosser wrote. asserted
Glosser → watch → country
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