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President-elect Trump’s top immigration and border aide spoke to House Republicans during a roughly hour-long meeting Wednesday.
Legislators who left the room saluted Stephen Millerwho was tapped to be the US National Security Advisor in the new Trump administration, as a brilliant political mind.
Two sources present at the discussions told Fox News that Digital Miller discussed the need to increase the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) workforce, which is noteworthy given Trump’s promise to implement mass deportations when he returns to office.
Miller also discussed ways to cut federal funds sanctuary cities and the states, a cash flow that Republicans had previously promised to target if they controlled the levers of power in Washington.
Trump adviser Stephen Miller addresses a group of House Republicans on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (Getty Images)
The strategy meeting comes as congressional Republicans prepare for a massive overhaul of conservative policy through the budget reconciliation process. By lowering the threshold for approval in the Senate from 60 to 51 votes, the reconciliation allows the party that controls Congress and the White House to pass major policy changes, as long as they deal with budget and fiscal issues.
Sources told Fox News Digital Miller that part of the meeting focused in part on what borders and immigration policies could go into a reconciliation package and what kind of funding Congress should appropriate.
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The sources said Miller told Republicans that the incoming Trump administration understood that the president-elect’s border and immigration goals “probably wouldn’t get many” Democratic votes and that “the most contentious things should be in reconciliation “. More bipartisan initiatives could be approved during the regular process, the sources added.
A House GOP lawmaker told Fox News Digital it was his understanding that Congress would follow Trump’s lead.
“I think we’re going to see a lot of executive orders soon, and that will be helpful in separating us from what we need to do legislatively,” the lawmaker said.
A source in the room said Miller emphasized the importance of messaging, adding that “nothing matters if we don’t get our message out to the American people.”
President-elect Trump has promised to carry out mass deportations. (Donald Trump/Truth Social)
Rep. Ralph Norman, RS.C., told Fox News that Digital Miller discussed “low-hanging fruit” that Trump could address by executive order, mentioning “deportation” as a possibility.
“Tax stuff, that’s going to take some time,” Norman said.
Rep. Mark Alford, R-Mo., declined to go into detail about the meeting, but told Fox News Digital that the discussion focused on “illegal immigration and how it’s going to be stopped … to bring common sense solutions to the program.”
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“I had a couple of questions about the cost to the American taxpayer if we don’t repatriate some 12 million illegal aliens that the Biden administration has allowed into our country,” Alford said.
Miller declined to take questions from reporters as he left the courtroom.
He was invited to address the Republican Study Committee led by Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, the largest House GOP caucus, which acts as a kind of conservative think tank for the rest of the Republican Conference of the Chamber.
House GOP leaders such as Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., did not attend, nor were they expected to.
Rep. Mark Alford said he asked about the cost to taxpayers of keeping millions of illegal immigrants in the country. (Getty Images)
Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., the group’s previous chairman, said there was “nothing new” during the meeting, adding that it was an opportunity for Trump aides to address the GOP in chamber
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Trump and his aides have already paid close attention to congressional Republicans.
Several of his incoming White House aides are in regular contact with top GOP lawmakers. Trump personally invited several groups of House Republicans to Mar-a-Lago last weekend.
