The White House is imposing a new restriction on how staff may deal with Washington's influence industry.
K Street lobbyists in Washington are waking up to a different set of rules this Friday, after President Donald Trump's new chief of staff, Stephen Miller, tightened access to the building. White House staff now need prior approval from the Office of White House Counsel to meet with registered lobbyists on-site about government policy, RedState reported.
According to a memo from the chief of staff's office first obtained by Politico, White House staff must receive that prior approval if they want to meet with a lobbyist. "No President in history has fought more relentlessly, selflessly or courageously for the American People than President Trump," the memo from Miller's office said. "Following his example, White House staff are expected to dedicate their time unwaveringly to the working people of the nation."
The prior approval covers meetings on the White House complex with registered lobbyists related to government policy. The Office of Public Liaison will continue to serve as the primary point of contact for engagement with external stakeholders, the memo said.
The memo is unlikely to shock lobbyists on K Street, where Miller has few friends. From what has been seen of the new chief of staff's career, he may not want many friends on K Street, and that is a virtue in a job that includes managing access to the administration, especially by people who have something to sell.
"The thing with Stephen is, he's not someone that a lobbyist goes in and has to crack or try to win over," said Hunter Morgen, a lobbyist at Ballard Partners who worked with Miller at the White House during the first Trump administration. "He doesn't operate based on relationships. He operates based on policy outcomes that will advance the president's agenda."
His job is moving the president's agenda forward, a task that, in January, will get an order of magnitude more complicated and more difficult. Miller would seem to be up to it, and it would be preferable to have a chief of staff who is simply impossible for a lobbyist to crack or try to win over.
The new rule comes on the heels of serious shakeups in President Trump's inner circle, including the sudden departure of the former chief of staff, Susie Wiles. Staff shakeups at the White House are not unusual, especially when the seated president's party takes a midterm drubbing like the 2026 elections.
Miller is seen as more of a MAGA hardliner than Wiles, with a reputation as the policy equivalent of a bare-knuckle brawler. Life on K Street just got a little more complicated, and it is a safe bet most Americans will see that as a good thing.
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