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Stephen Miller is making Washington’s influence industry clear a new hurdle before getting face time with White House staff.
The new chief of staff’s office has issued a memo requiring advance approval from the White House counsel’s office for policy meetings with registered lobbyists on the White House complex, according to POLITICO, which first obtained the directive.
For K Street, the restriction adds a formal checkpoint as lobbyists adjust to a Trump loyalist whom even fellow Republicans describe as unusually resistant to their pitches.
“No President in history has fought more relentlessly, selflessly or courageously for the American People than President Trump. Following his example, White House staff are expected to dedicate their time unwaveringly to the working people of the nation,” the memo said.
The Office of Public Liaison will remain the main contact for outside stakeholders, according to the directive.
The change comes amid a public fight over lobbying firms’ access to Miller’s predecessor, Susie Wiles, who worked at Ballard Partners and Mercury Public Affairs before joining Trump’s operation.
Calley Means, a former senior adviser to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., accused Ballard Partners of wielding undue influence inside the White House. He also singled out Continental Strategy, where Wiles’ daughter is a partner.
Both firms pushed back, and Wiles’ spokesperson forcefully rejected the allegations.
“Our firm’s interactions with Susie Wiles as chief of staff have been limited and have been the exception, not the rule,” Ballard Partners founder Brian Ballard said in a public statement on X.