An Investigation into the Machinery of Trump’s Second Administration

WASHINGTON — When President Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, 2025, he brought with him a carefully constructed apparatus of advisors whose influence now extends across immigration enforcement, military operations, domestic policy, and the federal personnel system itself. Through executive orders, agency reorganizations, and personnel decisions, a relatively small cadre of aides has translated Trump’s campaign promises into concrete policy—while consolidating power in ways that test the boundaries of executive authority and challenge traditional institutional safeguards.

An examination of the first eleven months of Trump’s second term reveals how individuals controlling messaging, personnel, immigration enforcement, domestic policy, and national security are shaping outcomes that reach from military operations in the Caribbean to immigrant arrests in American communities to the staffing of federal agencies. The system they have built prioritizes loyalty, centralizes decision-making, and in several documented cases, has triggered investigations, legal challenges, and bipartisan congressional scrutiny.

The Inner Circle: Who Shapes Policy

Stephen Miller, 40, serves as deputy chief of staff for policy and homeland security advisor—the administration’s chief architect of immigration enforcement. A Duke University graduate who built his career crafting restrictive immigration policy for Senator Jeff Sessions, Miller has authored or influenced major executive orders targeting asylum seekers, refugee admissions, and birthright citizenship. In May 2025, Axios reported that Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem demanded Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrest 3,000 people daily—triple early-term rates. Miller’s influence extends beyond immigration: according to sources familiar with White House operations, he has pressured Department of Justice officials on personnel matters and, after the assassination of conservative figure Charlie Kirk, vowed to use DOJ and DHS resources against what he termed a “vast domestic terror movement.”

Miller’s policy footprint is documented in leaked emails from 2019, when a Breitbart editor revealed correspondence showing his affinity for white nationalist ideas and literature. The Southern Poverty Law Center characterized the communications as “open white nationalism,” and over 100 members of Congress called for his resignation—a request the first Trump administration ignored. Now back in government with expanded authority, Miller oversees policy development that has produced more than 200 executive orders in Trump’s first 294 days, 54 of them directly addressing immigration.

Pete Hegseth, the former Fox News host confirmed as Secretary of Defense, controls military and national security operations. A Pentagon Inspector General report completed in September 2025 and released December 3 found that Hegseth violated Defense Department protocols by sharing classified military information marked “Secret/NOFORN” (no foreign nationals) via the Signal messaging app about pending Yemen strikes. The information, according to four sources who reviewed the IG findings, included details about targets, timing, and aircraft involved in operations against Houthi rebels. Hegseth shared this material in at least two Signal group chats—one including his wife, brother, and personal lawyer, and another that inadvertently included a journalist from The Atlantic. The IG report concluded Hegseth risked endangering U.S. servicemembers, though it acknowledged he possessed declassification authority as Defense Secretary. Hegseth refused to sit for an IG interview, providing only written responses.

More recently, Hegseth faces bipartisan congressional investigation over a September 2, 2025, military strike on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in the Caribbean. The Washington Post reported that after an initial strike left two survivors in the water, Hegseth gave a verbal order to “kill everybody,” prompting a second strike that killed the survivors. While the White House confirmed the second strike occurred and that Hegseth authorized Vice Admiral Frank Bradley to conduct it, officials deny Hegseth directly ordered targeting survivors. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers have launched investigations, with Bradley scheduled for private testimony. Democratic senators, including Tim Kaine (Va.) and Chris Van Hollen (Md.), have called the reported action a potential war crime and demanded Hegseth’s resignation.

Karoline Leavitt, 28, became the youngest White House press secretary in history when she assumed the role in January 2025. A New Hampshire native who served as assistant press secretary during Trump’s first term, Leavitt controls official messaging and press access. At her first briefing on January 28, she announced the administration would open the press room to “new media”—podcasters, influencers, and content creators—and later moved to restrict traditional outlets. She is named as a defendant in Associated Press v. Budowich, a lawsuit filed after the administration blocked AP journalists from certain White House areas unless the organization referred to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” Leavitt has vigorously defended both Hegseth’s Signal use and the Caribbean boat strikes, stating in December that “narcoterrorists” are subject to “lethal targeting in accordance with the laws of war.”

Susie Wiles, 67, the first woman to serve as White House Chief of Staff, manages operations and controls access to the president. A former lobbyist who earned $5.6 million representing clients including the People’s Democratic Party of Nigeria and Venezuelan media interests, Wiles co-managed Trump’s 2024 campaign with Chris LaCivita. As chief of staff, she structured the Presidential Personnel Office to report through the Office of Cabinet Affairs, initially placing it under Taylor Budowich’s oversight before Dan Scavino assumed direct control in October. Wiles negotiated the February 2025 prisoner exchange between the U.S. and Russia involving entrepreneur Alexander Vinnik and American teacher Marc Fogel. She was named to the Kennedy Center board after Trump fired the previous board in February. Politico reported in February that Wiles and her deputies were “unaware of and infuriated by” an email from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency requiring federal employees to list five weekly accomplishments.

Dan Scavino, 49, who met Trump as a golf caddie and later managed one of his clubs, serves as deputy chief of staff and, since October 2025, director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office. In the latter role, Trump announced, Scavino would be “responsible for the selection and appointment of almost all positions in government.” Scavino manages Trump’s social media accounts, taking over the @realDonaldTrump handle after 10 a.m. Eastern time daily and providing Trump with posts of varying “provocativity,” according to a 2019 New York Times investigation. His appointment to control personnel signaled a preference for loyalty-based staffing. A source familiar with the hire told Axios that Scavino would “scrutinize the current staff and personnel changes that happen as the office transitions to a new leadership and structure.” The House of Representatives held Scavino in contempt in April 2022 for evading a January 6 committee subpoena, though the Justice Department declined prosecution after he negotiated terms.

James Blair, 36, deputy chief of staff for legislative, political, and public affairs, coordinates Trump’s agenda on Capitol Hill and manages political operations. A Florida State University finance graduate who founded Rapid Loop Consulting and served as Ron DeSantis’s deputy chief of staff until resigning in August 2019, Blair oversees the Office of Legislative Affairs, the Office of Political Affairs, and public affairs strategy. He has publicly promoted Trump’s push for healthcare reform “bigger” than Congress has appetite for, and told Breitbart News in February that the administration operates at a “frenetic pace” to reshape government. Blair manages Trump’s midterm election spending and helped the National Republican Congressional Committee raise a record $35 million at an April dinner with the president. Politico described him in February as an opponent of Elon Musk’s DOGE work within the federal government.

Taylor Budowich, 35, served as deputy chief of staff for communications and personnel from January through September 2025, when he departed for the private sector—the highest-profile White House exit of Trump’s second term. The Tea Party Express veteran who founded MAGA Inc., which raised more than $600 million during the 2024 campaign, oversaw communications, public liaison, cabinet affairs, and speechwriting during his tenure. Budowich was named in the Associated Press lawsuit and testified before the federal grand jury investigating Trump’s handling of classified documents one day before Trump’s indictment in June 2023. The Office of Cabinet Affairs initially housed the Presidential Personnel Office under Budowich’s structure before Scavino’s appointment centralized personnel control.

Vince Haley, 58, director of the Domestic Policy Council, oversees development and implementation of the president’s domestic policies across federal agencies. An attorney with degrees from William & Mary, the University of Virginia, and the College of Europe, Haley left law practice after September 11, 2001, to work in politics. He spent over a decade with Newt Gingrich, including managing Gingrich’s 2012 presidential campaign. As Trump’s primary speechwriter since 2016, Haley wrote State of the Union addresses and inaugural speeches. His Domestic Policy Council coordinates regulatory and legislative proposals on education, healthcare, social policy, and infrastructure. In October 2025, 44 national organizations wrote to Haley requesting additional emergency WIC funding to prevent program disruptions.

Policy by Personality: Immigration Architecture

Stephen Miller’s influence on immigration policy is both documented and pervasive. The executive orders signed in Trump’s first days—including “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” and “Securing Our Borders”—bear Miller’s imprint, according to immigration policy experts and former officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. The orders revoked Biden-era enforcement priorities, directed detention of immigrants “to the fullest extent permitted by law,” expanded expedited removal to any immigrant present for less than two years, and authorized military resources for border operations.

By June 2025, Trump issued a proclamation restricting entry of nationals from Yemen, Sudan, and Burundi—a new iteration of the “Muslim ban” Miller helped craft in 2017. Another proclamation in June banned entry of individuals seeking to attend Harvard University, a move currently blocked by temporary restraining order. These actions reflect Miller’s career-long commitment to restrictive immigration policy, dating to his work defeating the bipartisan “Gang of Eight” immigration reform bill in 2013 while working for Jeff Sessions.

The operational effects are measurable. According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University, ICE custody held nearly 49,000 people in early May 2025—exceeding congressional appropriations. Interior deportations increased while border-area deportations declined as fewer migrants attempted crossings. Miller’s May directive for 3,000 daily arrests, reported by Axios, came during a tense ICE headquarters meeting where agents felt their jobs were at risk if targets weren’t met. ICE officers told Axios that Miller had previously “yelled at senior DHS officials about getting arrest and deportation numbers up.”

Miller’s reach extends to Justice Department staffing decisions. According to the book “Injustice” by Washington Post journalists Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis, Miller pressured acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove to dismiss FBI officials more vigorously, citing the bureau’s nominal director, Kash Patel. When DOJ court papers asserted “administrative error” in the deportation of Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Miller publicly contradicted DOJ, telling reporters in April that the deportation was not mistaken. In May, Miller stated the administration was considering suspending habeas corpus for immigrants.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other advocacy groups have filed multiple lawsuits challenging these policies. A February 3, 2025, lawsuit asserts that Trump’s border proclamation violates asylum laws and the Administrative Procedure Act. Another suit challenges expanded expedited removal as violating due process rights. On April 24, a federal district court granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit over DOJ’s withholding funds from “sanctuary jurisdictions.”

Mechanics of Power: Personnel as Policy

The Presidential Personnel Office, under Dan Scavino’s October 2025 appointment, represents a critical lever of power. Personnel decisions determine not only who implements policy but whether career officials can resist directives they consider illegal or unconstitutional. Scavino’s predecessor, Sergio Gor (now U.S. Ambassador to India), had already shifted the office toward loyalty-focused appointments. Scavino’s dual role as deputy chief of staff and personnel director concentrates authority.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said of Scavino’s appointment: “There is nobody better to ensure the President’s Administration is staffed with the most qualified, competent, and America First-driven workers.” The statement emphasized “America First-driven,” a formulation that prioritizes ideological alignment.

The Trump administration has also conducted “reductions in force” affecting oversight offices. On March 21, 2025, DHS shut down three oversight offices, including the CIS Ombudsman’s Office, affecting over 100 employees, according to The New York Times. The Department of Education announced plans on March 11 to reduce its workforce by 50 percent, connected to a February 11 executive order implementing the “Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Workforce Optimization Initiative.”

These personnel actions align with executive orders directing agencies to prioritize Trump appointees and political loyalty. The February DOGE order aims to “significantly reduce the size of the federal workforce” and implement new hiring standards. Critics, including the American Federation of Government Employees, argue this undermines merit-based civil service protections established to prevent political patronage.

Institutional Effects: Bureaucratic Capture

The consolidation of power around Trump’s inner circle has produced measurable institutional changes. At the Department of Defense, Hegseth’s “warrior culture” agenda includes rebranding DOD as the Department of War and, in a September 2025 Quantico speech, telling military brass not to “fight with stupid rules of engagement.” He promised “no more politically correct and overbearing rules of engagement, just common sense, maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.”

This rhetoric preceded the Caribbean boat strikes and the Signal controversy. The Pentagon IG report on Signal use noted that “senior Defense Department officials need better training on protocols,” suggesting systemic communication security failures beyond Hegseth’s individual actions. The IG’s reliance on Atlantic magazine screenshots rather than Hegseth’s own records—he provided investigators only a few messages—hampered the investigation.

At DHS, the push for increased arrests has strained agency resources. ICE’s detention facilities operate beyond funded capacity, and Capitol Hill Republicans are working to provide an additional $147 billion for immigration enforcement over 10 years. The American Immigration Council projects that Trump’s mass deportation plans could cost $88 billion annually and require a deportation force far larger than ICE’s current capacity—necessitating National Guard federalization and local police deputization, both of which Miller has explicitly advocated.

In the communications sphere, Leavitt’s restructuring has elevated alternative media while restricting traditional outlets. The Associated Press lawsuit alleges constitutional violations and that officials “blocked the news agency from press events and locations over its stance on the Gulf of Mexico naming controversy.” Susie Wiles emailed AP alleging the news organization’s stylebook had been “misused, and at times weaponized, to push a divisive and partisan agenda.”

Voices of Pushback

Congressional oversight has emerged as the primary check on executive power, though its effectiveness remains contested. Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) told reporters he expects “full access to all of the audio and all of the video” regarding the Caribbean boat strikes. House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mike Rogers spoke with Hegseth about the second strike. Both are demanding answers, but Republicans have been “careful to withhold judgment,” as the Associated Press reported, until investigations conclude.

Democrats have been more direct. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Hegseth a “national embarrassment.” Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.) pointed to Hegseth’s confirmation hearing controversies, stating: “You don’t suddenly change your judgment level or change your character when you get confirmed to be secretary of defense.” Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who barely supported Hegseth’s confirmation, said if the boat strike reports are substantiated, “whoever made that order needs to get the hell out of Washington.”

Immigration advocacy organizations have been equally vocal. The Southern Poverty Law Center continues to document Miller’s ties to white nationalist ideology. The National Immigration Law Center characterized Trump’s Day One executive orders as “Unconstitutional, Illegal, and Cruel.” Human Rights First’s analysis called them part of “Leading with Cruelty.” These organizations have filed numerous lawsuits, though several face funding threats under Trump’s February memorandum directing DOJ to pause funding to “nongovernmental organizations ‘that support or provide services to removable or illegal aliens.'”

Former officials have also spoken out. Multiple former military lawyers argued in a Saturday assessment that the reported Caribbean second strike would violate international and domestic law. Career State Department and DHS employees, speaking anonymously to The New York Times and Washington Post, have described pressure to implement policies they believe violate statutes or constitutional protections.

Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and former astronaut, told reporters Hegseth and Trump are “threatening” him for urging service members to disobey illegal orders—a statement that underscores tensions between military law and political loyalty.

Long-Term Implications

The Trump administration’s second-term structure raises fundamental questions about executive power and institutional resilience. The concentration of policy development, personnel control, and messaging in a small group of loyalists—some with documented controversies ranging from contempt of Congress to IG findings of protocol violations—tests whether traditional checks and balances can constrain executive action.

The legal challenges multiplying in federal courts will determine whether courts serve as effective brakes on executive overreach. Multiple preliminary injunctions have blocked administration actions, but the Supreme Court’s composition and its interpretation of executive authority will likely determine final outcomes on birthright citizenship, immigration enforcement, and funding conditions.

Congressional oversight faces constraints. The administration has restricted information flow, classified briefings have excluded full congressional input, and Trump’s Republican allies control both chambers. Vice President JD Vance cast a tiebreaking vote to confirm Hegseth and has “vigorously defended” him. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said boat strikes are within Trump’s authority and noted Hegseth “serves at the pleasure of the president.”

The precedent-setting nature of these arrangements—loyalty-based personnel systems, military operations without congressional authorization, restrictions on traditional press access, agency reorganizations that eliminate oversight offices—will outlast Trump’s second term. Future presidents, whether seeking to expand or constrain executive power, will inherit a blueprint that shows how far a determined administration can push constitutional boundaries when backed by party loyalty and equipped with the tools of modern government.

The American people, who gave Trump the presidency with 312 electoral votes, will render their own judgment in the 2026 midterms and 2028 presidential election. But the institutional changes being implemented now—in immigration enforcement, military operations, personnel systems, and executive-legislative relations—are reshaping the machinery of American government in ways that may prove difficult to reverse, regardless of who next occupies the Oval Office.

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Source Notes & Bibliography

Primary Sources:

• White House Presidential Actions, Executive Orders 2025 (WhiteHouse.gov)
• Pentagon Inspector General Report on Signal Use (December 3, 2025)
• Congressional Record, Senate Armed Services Committee statements and hearings
• Federal Register citations for Executive Orders 14161, 14287, and related proclamations
• Associated Press v. Budowich, U.S. District Court filing (2025)

Investigative Reporting:

• Axios: “Stephen Miller, Noem tell ICE to supercharge immigrant arrests” (May 28, 2025)
• The Washington Post: “Watchdog finds Hegseth violated Pentagon protocol in ‘Signalgate’ affair” (December 3, 2025); “Trump aide Dan Scavino to assume powerful position as personnel chief” (August 26, 2025)
• CNN: “Watchdog finds Hegseth risked endangering troops by sharing of sensitive war plans on Signal” (December 3, 2025)
• NPR: “Pentagon watchdog finds Hegseth risked the safety of U.S. forces with use of Signal” (December 3, 2025)
• The Atlantic: Original reporting on Signal group chat (March 2025)
• TIME: “Second Boat Strike Draws Bipartisan Anger, Push for Fast Hearings” (December 2, 2025)

Background & Analysis:

• American Civil Liberties Union: “Trump on Immigration” analysis
• American Immigration Council: “What Project 2025 Says About Immigration” (March 27, 2025)
• Southern Poverty Law Center: Stephen Miller profiles and white nationalist content analysis
• Center for Migration Studies: “Summary of Executive Orders and Other Actions on Immigration” (February 14, 2025)
• Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), Syracuse University: ICE detention data
• Congressional Research Service: Legal Sidebars on immigration executive actions

Biographical Sources:

• Wikipedia: Current biographies with December 2025 updates (Stephen Miller, Pete Hegseth, Karoline Leavitt, Susie Wiles, Dan Scavino, James Blair, Taylor Budowich, Vince Haley)
• Britannica: Karoline Leavitt, Susie Wiles biographies
• LegiStorm: James Blair, Taylor Budowich, Vince Haley government service records
• OpenSecrets: Susie Wiles lobbying record analysis (March 5, 2025)