President-Elect Donald Trump Nominates Former Campaign Staffer to Be Senior Policy Adviser

President-elect Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening he had selected Stephen Miller, a key policy aide to several members of Congress—including Attorney General-designate U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)—to serve as his senior policy adviser.

“Stephen Miller is the best person President-elect Donald Trump could have chosen to be his senior adviser for policy,” Sessions said. “He has understood the Trump Movement from the beginning and has a unique understanding of the very real and honest concerns of the American people.

“Stephen’s insight comes from more than his keen political skills and his extraordinary communications and writing talents. These abilities are really founded on an amazingly comprehensive understanding of the key policy issues we face. He thinks broadly and is a master of detail. He will be an invaluable adviser to President-elect Trump as he faces a wide array of decisions in the months ahead.

“Stephen can and will, with integrity and loyalty to Mr. Trump and to America, distill vast sums of information in order to provide clear choices and honest advice. In the seven years he served with me, I was constantly amazed at his ability to quickly to absorb and master information. His talents will be so important in the days to come.

“I am very proud of Stephen for proving himself so well throughout this campaign and very happy that President-elect Trump will continue to have his loyal and proven friend at his side.”

Session’s glowing endorsement aside, the pick was hardly a difficult one. Miller had been the president-elect’s top adviser on national policy since January 2016. In that role, he organized policy efforts on across numerous fronts including defense and security policy, energy reform and veterans care.

Miller also oversaw the entire policy operation, led the policy development and formulation efforts and directed strategic policy decisions on a day-to-day basis. He also served throughout as the campaign’s chief speech-writer and is currently the policy director for the President-elect’s transition team.

“Stephen played a central and wide-ranging role in our primary and general election campaign,” Trump said. “He is deeply committed to the America First agenda and understands the policies and actions necessary to put that agenda into effect. He is a strong advocate for protecting American workers and will fulfill a crucial role in my administration as my senior adviser on matters of policy.”

The official job title is assistant to the president and senior adviser to the president for policy, and Miller will be responsible for directing White House policy staff, managing speech-writing functions and working to ensure the enactment of the president’s policy agenda. His appointment does not require “advise and consent” confirmation from the Senate.

“I am deeply honored for the opportunity to serve the president-elect and to focus efforts to develop critical policies that serve the national interest,” Miller said. “A Trump administration will focus unremittingly on the safety, security and economic well-being of working Americans.”

Wednesday morning, Trump also announced he was adding three more corporate CEO’s to his “Boardroom Cabinet.” The additional members of the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum will be: Uber Technologies co-founder and CEO Travis Kalanick, SpaceX and Tesla Chairman and CEO Elon Musk and PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi.

The president-elect established the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum, composed of some of America’s most highly respected and successful business leaders, and announced its initial 16 members earlier this month. Members of the forum, chaired by Blackstone co-founder, Chairman and CEO Stephen A. Schwarzman, will be called upon to meet with Trump frequently to share their specific experience and knowledge as he implements his economic agenda.

“America has the most innovative and vibrant companies in the world, and the pioneering CEOs joining this forum today are at the top of their fields,” the president-elect said. “My administration is going to work together with the private sector to improve the business climate and make it attractive for firms to create new jobs across the United States from Silicon Valley to the heartland.” {eoa}