Tillerson pushes for autonomy over State Department: report

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pushed for maintaining autonomy over his department after senior White House aide Stephen Miller suggested last week that the department be tougher on immigration and make changes to their programs, Politico reports.

Tillerson made it “quite clear” to Miller that he wanted autonomy over the State Department, according to one of four people familiar with the conversation in the West Wing, which included Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, according to the newspaper.

One of the people mentioned there was no yelling between Tillerson and Miller, unlike the conversation Tillerson had with head of presidential personnel Johnny DeStefano earlier in the day.

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Miller has been holding meetings with senators recently in an effort to crack down on immigration into the U.S., two administration officials told Politico.

A CNN report Friday said that the White House was considering a memo proposing to move the State Department’s bureaus of Consular Affairs and Population, Refugees and Migration to the Department of Homeland Security, two of the government agencies most involved in immigration.

Tillerson has become frustrated with receiving instruction on how to run the department from younger, less experienced officials and Trump aides, and frequently reminds people of the autonomy President Trump gave him to run the department, Politico reported.

The Supreme Court allowed a limited version of Trump’s controversial travel ban to take effect this week before it hears arguments on the case in the fall. The order is aimed at halting most travel to the U.S. from six Muslim-majority nations in the Middle East.