President Donald Trump today made the surprise announcement that he is withdrawing his nomination of Ron Vitiello for ICE director. Vitiello currently serves as the acting director, but Trump said today during his announcement that they’re going in a “tougher” direction.

Trump withdraws the nomination of ICE Acting Director Ron Vitiello to serve permanently in that position, saying the administration is going in a "tougher direction" https://t.co/WyEpqH88PP pic.twitter.com/oKSLzFKjzk — CBS News (@CBSNews) April 5, 2019

Per multiple reports, the president’s decision came after lobbying from Stephen Miller.

CNN reports that Miller “directly lobbied” Trump and even said Vitiello was at odds with POTUS about closing the border:

News — Stephen Miller directly lobbied President Trump to withdraw Ron Vitiello’s nomination to lead ICE, multiple sources say. Miller went to Trump and said Vitiello was not fully in favor of closing the southern border. — Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 5, 2019

To give you an idea of how sudden this is, ICE leadership was under the impression this morning that Vitiello’s withdrawal was just a clerical error. Even DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen, who has been on the border, was unaware his nomination was being pulled until afterward. — Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 5, 2019

The Washington Post similarly reports officials were blindsided over the move and aren’t too happy with Miller:

In recent months, as unauthorized border crossings have soared to their highest levels in more than a decade, Trump immigration policy adviser Stephen Miller has been criticizing Vitiello to the president and looking for an opportunity to cut him loose, according to one senior administration official who works on immigration enforcement matters… “Ron Vitiello has spent as much time defending our nation’s borders as Stephen Miller has been alive,” one official said of Miller, who is 33. One senior official said: “This is part of an increasingly desperate effort by Stephen to throw people under the bus when the policies he has advocated are not effective. Once it becomes clear that Stephen’s policies aren’t working, he tells the president, ‘They’re not the right people.’ ”

One DHS official gave this comment to BuzzFeed News:

DHS official does not hold back re: Stephen Miller: "Miller is paranoid about sharing his plans outside of a very small circle, often with disastrous results. One blunder after another can be laid directly at his feet…" — Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) April 5, 2019

Continued: "[Miller] has shown a deft ability to backstab people downstream from him to avoid taking any blame for his miscalculations. This dishonorable treatment of a dedicated public servant like Ron Vitiello is simply the latest example." — Hamed Aleaziz (@Haleaziz) April 5, 2019

[image via screengrab]

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