--- title: Stephen Miller ‘Plenary Authority’ Remark Sparks Controversy description: The Trump aide sparked suspicion when he stopped speaking after he mentioned the President’s “plenary authority,” though CNN blamed a technical issue. canonical: https://time.com/7324096/stephen-miller-plenary-authority-cnn-glitch-trump-national-guard-deployment/ author: Chad de Guzman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-10-08T08:15:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2025-10-09T06:07:03.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Stephen Miller ‘Plenary Authority’ Remark Sparks Controversy og:description: The Trump aide sparked suspicion when he stopped speaking after he mentioned the President’s “plenary authority,” though CNN blamed a technical issue. og:url: https://time.com/7324096/stephen-miller-plenary-authority-cnn-glitch-trump-national-guard-deployment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8febf70d959374f5/6998ca84a97fc01ca8a74c36/stephen-miller.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: White House Raises Pressure On Democrats If Shutdown Vote Fails og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Stephen Miller ‘Plenary Authority’ Remark Sparks Controversy twitter:description: The Trump aide sparked suspicion when he stopped speaking after he mentioned the President’s “plenary authority,” though CNN blamed a technical issue. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8febf70d959374f5/6998ca84a97fc01ca8a74c36/stephen-miller.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Stephen Miller Sparks Suspicion After ‘Glitch’ on CNN When He Mentioned ‘Plenary Authority’ > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Updated: Oct 9, 2025 6:07 AM UTCPublished: Oct 8, 2025 8:15 AM UTC  Stephen Miller speaks to the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2025. Stephen Miller speaks to the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 6, 2025. Aaron Schwartz—CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Chad de Guzman](https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/)  ## Chad de Guzman Reporter Updated: Oct 9, 2025 6:07 AM UTCPublished: Oct 8, 2025 8:15 AM UTC An awkward live TV moment for White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller is under heavy scrutiny on social media. On Monday afternoon, the Donald Trump aide went on CNN’s _News Central_ to discuss the President’s deployment of [National Guard troops to U.S. cities](https://time.com/7321940/hegseth-trump-generals-meeting/). CNN asked Miller whether the Trump Administration will abide by a [district judge’s order](https://time.com/7323455/newsom-legal-win-trump-national-guard-deployment-democratic-cities/) blocking the Guard’s deployment in Oregon. “Well, the Administration filed an appeal this morning with the Ninth Circuit,” Miller began. “I would note the Administration won an identical case in the Ninth Circuit just a few months ago with respect to the federalizing of the California National Guard.” Then, Miller said: “Under Title 10 of the U.S. Code, the President has plenary authority, has—” before making an abrupt stop. Miller blinked several times, with anchor Boris Sanchez calling out his name, though he still did not respond. “Stephen, I apologize. It seems like we’re having a technical issue,” Sanchez said, before the show cut to a break, and resumed after with Sanchez saying some “wires got crossed.” The [interview with Miller](https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/cnc/date/2025-10-06/segment/10) continued, but neither Sanchez nor Miller brought up “plenary authority” again. A CNN spokesperson confirmed that there was a technical issue during the interview, telling TIME that an audio feed from a different CNN channel began playing in Miller’s in-ear monitor. The brief moment sparked controversy online over Miller’s use of the phrase “plenary authority,” which Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute [defines](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/plenary%5Fauthority) as “power that is wide-ranging, broadly construed, and often limitless for all practical purposes.” Some users speculated that there was no malfunction during the interview but rather that Miller abruptly caught himself and stopped talking. One TikTok user [said](https://www.tiktok.com/@nicksthoughts7/video/7558541368914742541), “Stephen Miller said the quiet part out loud accidentally and then appeared to glitch, all of a sudden when he recognized how much of his foot he just put into his mouth.” The user added: “He just came out and said Trump is authoritarian.” Another TikTok user posted [a video](https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.%5F.farrell/video/7558472621566872887) with more than 100,000 likes: “Stephen Miller absolutely did not have a glitch on live TV. He had an ‘Oh sh-t’ moment where he said something that he f-cking was not supposed to say.” On X, one user [posted](https://x.com/JamieBonkiewicz/status/1975527033854959675), “Stephen Miller didn’t glitch. He said ‘plenary authority’ and whoever was in his ear told him to STFU because he said too much and he froze like a deer in headlights.” Upon return to air, Sanchez asked Miller about “the President's legal authority as you see it under Title 10,” which refers to [the part of the U.S. Code](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10) outlining laws that govern the Armed Forces, and “whether the Administration still plans to abide by that judge's order, restricting any National Guard troops from being sent to Oregon.” “Well, the Administration will abide by the ruling insofar as it affects the covered parties,” Miller said. “But there are also many other options the President has to deploy federal resources and assets under the U.S. military to Portland. But I was making the point that under federal law, Section— Title 10 of the U.S. Code, the President has the authority anytime he believes federal resources are insufficient to federalize the National Guard to carry out a mission necessary for public safety.” A section of the law Miller mentioned [states](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/12406) that the President may call into federal service members and a state’s National Guard under three conditions: if there is an invasion by a foreign nation, if there is a rebellion or a danger of one staged against the U.S. government, or if the President is “unable with the regular forces” to execute U.S. laws. Trump has continued to test his executive authority in the deployment of troops within the U.S. and has been met with [criticisms from local officials](https://time.com/7323667/chicago-ice-free-zones-trump-crackdown/) as well as pushback from court rulings, to which he has floated the possibility of using the 19th-century [Insurrection Act](https://time.com/7324040/insurrection-act-trump-national-guard/) to bypass. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7324096/stephen-miller-plenary-authority-cnn-glitch-trump-national-guard-deployment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7324096/stephen-miller-plenary-authority-cnn-glitch-trump-national-guard-deployment/"},"headline":"Stephen Miller Sparks Suspicion After ‘Glitch’ on CNN When He Mentioned ‘Plenary Authority’","datePublished":"2025-10-08T08:15:00.000Z","dateModified":"2025-10-09T06:07:03.000Z","description":"The Trump aide sparked suspicion when he stopped speaking after he mentioned the President’s “plenary authority,” though CNN blamed a technical issue.","url":"https://time.com/7324096/stephen-miller-plenary-authority-cnn-glitch-trump-national-guard-deployment/","keywords":["Trump Administration","overnight","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8febf70d959374f5/6998ca84a97fc01ca8a74c36/stephen-miller.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Chad de Guzman","jobTitle":"Reporter","url":"https://time.com/author/chad-de-guzman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8febf70d959374f5/6998ca84a97fc01ca8a74c36/stephen-miller.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"White House Raises Pressure On Democrats If Shutdown Vote Fails","caption":"Stephen Miller, deputy White House chief of staff for policy, speaks to members of the media outside the White House in Washington, D.C., US, on Oct. 6, 2025.","creditText":"Aaron Schwartz—CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/trump-administration/","name":"Trump Administration"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/7324096/stephen-miller-plenary-authority-cnn-glitch-trump-national-guard-deployment/","name":"Stephen Miller Sparks Suspicion After ‘Glitch’ on CNN When He Mentioned ‘Plenary Authority’"}}]}] ```