The End Of Stephen Miller’s Recusals

Stephen Miller spent his first weekend as White House chief of staff on the patio at Mar-a-Lago, huddling with President Trump and Natalie Harp, his executive assistant, about how to approach the next two years with the House and Senate under Democratic control. Katie Miller—the podcaster, political consultant, and wife of Stephen—spent the weekend in the Washington area, rearranging her own life. “I make every decision based on what’s best for my children and our family,” she wrote yesterday on X, before announcing that she had decided to wind down her podcast.

But that was not all that was changing. For months, Stephen Miller has recused himself from matters of policy that involve Katie Miller’s other financial interests at the direction of the White House counsel. That meant that Stephen did not work on issues involving the media company Paramount, where his wife had been seeking a podcast deal, or anything to do with space policy or artificial intelligence, because his wife, a longtime adviser to Elon Musk, also worked for SpaceX, the owner of the Grok artificial-intelligence assistant. All of that changed today.

Katie Miller severed her employment with SpaceX, sold her stock in the company, and forfeited her right to future equity that had not yet vested under her contract, according to a person familiar with the moves. Over the weekend, she also ended a separate contract with Paramount for a planned podcast deal. As a result, a White House official told me this afternoon, “Stephen Miller is no longer subject to any recusals and may fully participate in all meetings and policy matters.” Katie declined to comment.

White House lawyers had previously ruled that Katie Miller’s podcast advertising sponsorships from companies seeking official favor from her husband did not require recusals, because sponsorships carry a different ethical significance than consulting arrangements. Sugar-soda boosters at the American Beverage Association, the utility Southern Company, and the Merchants Payments Coalition, a group pushing for legislation to reduce credit-card swipe fees, had all purchased time on her show. But now even those potential conflicts will not be an issue, after a couple more already-recorded episodes from her podcast are released. “Nothing is more important than raising our four kids,” she wrote. “While I’ve loved the podcast, the time commitment is too great and now is the time to step away.”

[Read: A chief of staff who ‘will crack skulls’]

The Millers met during the first Trump term, when both were working for the administration. Katie Miller later worked as a press secretary and communications director for Vice President Pence, before becoming an adviser to Musk, the founder of SpaceX and CEO of Tesla. During the transition following the 2024 presidential election, Katie Miller worked as an adviser to future Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., before joining the White House as a special government employee who advised Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency. When she left the White House, she maintained her consulting work for Musk and SpaceX, leading the White House counsel to advise that Stephen Miller recuse himself on related issues. When Katie Miller began working closely with Paramount, offering to help arrange a company party for Trump before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Stephen Miller expanded his recusals to cover related issues.

Katie Miller’s career change comes amid a public uproar over possible improper influence in the White House, after the former adviser Calley Means went on Joe Rogan’s podcast to allege “demonic” efforts to influence White House policy by lobbyists with close ties to senior officials. Concern about corruption, often focused on the president’s own for-profit efforts in office and the business deals of his children, became a significant issue in the recent midterm elections. Gallup found in September that 89 percent of U.S. adults believed that corruption was widespread in the government, a proportion that had risen 10 points in just one year to the highest level in the two decades that the polling question had been asked.

After Trump announced his new chief of staff on Friday afternoon, Katie Miller responded on X: “Watching your best friend and spouse achieve their dreams is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” She kept the commentary going through the weekend. When Politico published an article about how she had lobbied for the promotion, Miller responded: “BREAKING: Wife supports husband. If your wife doesn’t do this, find a new one.”