Kristi Noem may be the official Homeland Security Secretary, but inside the department, she’s largely sidelined. According to former Trump administration DHS staffer Miles Taylor, real control of the agency now rests with hardline immigration adviser Stephen Miller.
Taylor shared on the “Court of History” podcast how Miller took over behind the scenes. He recalled Miller’s frustration when DHS slowed down some of President Trump’s extreme immigration plans—policies lawyers warned would break the law.
Miller went directly to Trump and demanded more authority to bypass DHS leadership. Taylor remembered Miller’s exact words during a phone call: “Think of this as my coronation.”
Though Miller never made a public power move, Taylor said he was furious that DHS lawyers resisted these extreme policies. Miller’s answer was to sideline the department’s leaders. He told Trump, “Look, I’m tired of this, basically give me the authority to make some of these decisions over at DHS.”
Trump agreed and gave Miller effective control over DHS, cutting Noem and other leaders out of decision-making.
Now, Taylor says, Noem is little more than a figurehead. “The current secretary is not a policy heavyweight,” he explained. “All you can do is PR, and I think that’s the role she’s settled into.”
Historian Sean Wilentz agreed: “She’s under the thumb of Stephen Miller.”
Taylor added: “It’s not unreasonable or outlandish to say that Stephen Miller is running the Department of Homeland Security. I very much believe it, and I know that day-to-day, tactically, that is what’s happening.”
He described Miller’s influence as “almost absolute.”
As for how that power looks in practice? Taylor pointed to the use of the military against anti-deportation protests in Los Angeles: “That has Miller’s fingerprints all over it.”
Watch the video below.
