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Stephen Miller is moving quickly to put his stamp on the White House, and his first big target is clear: the young and working-class men who helped power Donald Trump back into office in 2024, then drifted away from Republicans in the midterm elections.
Now serving as White House chief of staff, Miller wants to reopen the path to that coalition by leaning harder into the economic and cultural themes that animated Trump’s 2024 campaign, according to two people familiar with the administration’s plans who spoke to Axios. He intends to spotlight policies he believes have not gotten enough attention, especially ones aimed at voters worried about prices, jobs and the size of government.
Miller was named last week to replace Susie Wiles, Trump’s longest-serving chief of staff, and began the job on Monday. His appointment came days after Republicans suffered heavy losses in the midterm elections, with Democrats winning control of both the House and the Senate and set to take over Congress in January.
The numbers underline why Miller is focused on this group. Trump won men under 30 by 14 points in 2024, according to a Tufts University study of election data. In the midterms, Democrats flipped that group by 22 points in House races — a 36-point swing. Among young Latino men, the shift was even sharper, moving from a narrow Trump advantage in 2024 to a 37-point Democratic lead in 2026. Young voters with a high school education or less also moved strongly toward Democrats, swinging 37 points.
More than half of voters under 30 identified the economy and jobs as one of the country’s top three issues, and among young voters who said they were falling behind financially, 73% backed Democratic House candidates. High prices, concerns about the war in Iran and anxiety over artificial intelligence’s effect on the job market all fed into the swing away from Republicans, while Latino men moved sharply toward Democrats as the administration’s immigration crackdown became a more potent political issue.
Miller’s answer is to double down on the populist themes that helped shape Trump’s rise. He wants the administration to keep challenging what he describes as “woke” policies in colleges and workplaces, while also pushing prescription drug price cuts, anti-fraud efforts in government and health care, and a broader drive to shrink the federal bureaucracy. He is also expected to keep pressing for permitting reform, casting it as part of a larger affordability message — connecting administrative changes in Washington with the everyday costs voters feel in their lives.
Miller has been making direct appeals to young men since the 2024 campaign. On Fox News shortly before the election, he urged them to publicly embrace Trump and told them to “show that you are a real man” and “not a beta.” On Election Day, he wrote on X: “Get every man you know to the polls.”
That agenda will face a very different landscape in January, when Democrats take control of Congress. Without Republican majorities in either chamber, Miller will have to rely more heavily on executive action from Trump for some priorities, while other items, including permitting changes, will need bipartisan support.
That may be easier said than done. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is positioned to become House speaker in January, has already said he has zero interest in working with Miller.
The appointment also sits uneasily alongside Trump’s own recent words. In a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday, Trump said his mass deportation policy “might be too tough” and offered deportation as an area of compromise with the incoming Democratic Congress. Miller is the architect of that deportation campaign, and his elevation signals that Trump intends to spend his final two years doubling down on the agenda rather than pivoting to work across the aisle.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026