White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller had a heated exchange with CNN anchor Brianna Keilar during an appearance on the network Tuesday, as he defended President Trump’s efforts to shrink the size of the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Miller raised his voice as he pushed back against Keilar’s questions about the cuts, which included layoffs in critical federal programs, such as those affecting the nation’s nuclear stockpile.
“I realize that even a brief interruption in federal employment is a great crisis for you and for CNN,” Miller told Keilar. “What the American people see is a government that is finally delivering on the promise of accountability under President Trump.”
Keilar responded by pointing out that the real “crisis” was the impact on the country’s nuclear program due to these layoffs. “It’s not my personal crisis,” she said, trying to steer the conversation back to the issue at hand.
Miller, however, laughed off her question about who exactly makes up the federal workforce. “You are clearly trying to debate me,” he said. “And I will be as excited as I want to be about the fact we are saving Americans billions of dollars… you don’t care about this issue. Your colleagues don’t care about this issue, but we care about this issue.”
At one point, he demanded that Keilar “celebrate” the cuts, yelling, “Why aren’t you celebrating the cuts that are being instituted?”
DOGE, led by billionaire Elon Musk, has cut thousands of federal jobs, sparking vocal pushback from Democrats in Congress, who argue the Trump administration does not have the legal authority to make such cuts.
You can watch the full exchange below from CNN.
2.18.25 250 pm ET CNN Anchor @brikeilarcnn engaging with WH Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security, Advisor Stephen Miller @StephenM and he truly gets belligerent and LOUD on camera with Brianna
UNREAL pic.twitter.com/iaUTuZiRcx
— Jeff Storobinsky (@jeffstorobinsky) February 18, 2025
