Katie Miller is following in the footsteps of Elon Musk and will be leaving the White House to rejoin the private sector, as the tech mogul officially leaves his position in Washington, D.C. However, Katie’s husband, Stephen Miller, appeared to react negatively to Musk’s recent criticism of President Donald Trump’s massive spending bill.
The senior Trump aide caused a stir on social media on Tuesday evening after Musk showed his displeasure and said that he was extremely disappointed with the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” arguing that it reversed many of the budget cuts he worked hard to implement during his short time at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Another Trump Advisor Leaves White House
X
Stephen Miller, who served as Homeland Security advisor and White House deputy chief of staff for policy, appeared to respond to Musk’s remarks with a subtweet later that evening. In a post on X, he pointed out that Congress lacked the ability to reduce discretionary spending in the way Musk’s agency had intended.
“Under senate budget rules, you cannot cut discretionary spending (only mandatory) in a reconciliation bill,” Miller wrote to social media on Tuesday. “So DOGE cuts would have to be done through what is known as a rescissions package or an appropriations bill.”
X
“The Big Beautiful Bill is NOT an annual budget bill and does not fund the departments of government,” he continued. “It does not finance our agencies or federal programs.”
Katie Miller, who served as both an advisor and spokesperson for DOGE, will be departing the White House to join Elon Musk full-time in the private sector, according to a CNN report.
Katie Miller’s new role may involve coordinating Musk’s media appearances for companies like Tesla and SpaceX, according to a source.
Over the past week, Musk has spoken with outlets including The Washington Post, CBS News, and Ars Technica about the recent failed launch of SpaceX’s Starship.
During her time in government, Miller had been considered a Special Government Employee—a status that allows people from the private sector to serve in federal roles, though they are limited to working no more than 130 days per year.
Back to Where They Belonged
Musk officially resigned from his position as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) earlier this month. On Wednesday, he also announced that he was stepping down from his advisory role with Trump.
X
He now plans to focus more on his private business ventures. “I think I probably did spend a bit too much time on politics,” Musk told Ars Technica when asked about priorities and the failed SpaceX launch.
“It’s less than people would think, because the media is going to over-represent any political stuff, because political bones of contention get a lot of traction in the media,” he continued.
“It’s not like I left the companies,” Musk continued. “It was just relative time allocation that probably was a little too high on the government side, and I’ve reduced that significantly in recent weeks,” he added.
The world’s richest man had originally planned to leave the administration by May 30 and has been gradually stepping away from politics in recent weeks, amid reports of friction with senior government officials.
Tensions peaked on Tuesday night when Musk criticized Trump’s “big beautiful bill” and voiced his frustration over how his DOGE team had been treated. Speaking to CBS, Musk openly said that the $3.8 trillion tax and spending package “undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing.”
In interviews with several media outlets, Musk condemned what he described as betrayal by the White House and expressed his dismay over the way both he and his young DOGE staffers had been handled.
“DOGE is just becoming the whipping boy for everything,” he told the Washington Post.
“Something bad would happen anywhere, and we would get blamed for it even if we had nothing to do with it.”
X
After playing a major role in Trump’s 2024 election win through massive financial donations and highly public endorsements, Musk was informally dubbed the White House’s “First Buddy.”
During the early months of Trump’s second term, Musk was a constant presence—personally briefing the president, downsizing federal agencies, and even bringing his son, X, to key meetings in the Oval Office.
However, his arrival caused unrest within the political sphere and among career government workers, especially as he aggressively cut jobs in a push to eliminate what he saw as unnecessary spending.
