White House chief of staff Stephen Miller froze after claiming US president Donald Trump has “plenary authority” in a bizarre interview.
The 40-year-old Republican official became non-verbal during a CNN interview on Monday (6 October) immediately after saying the president has plenary authority – or absolute power – on the issue.
Discussing Trump’s attempt to deploy theNational Guardto Oregon, CNN anchor Boris Sanchez asked the Trump aide to clarify whether the administration plans to follow a US federal judge’s order blocking it from deploying troops in the state.
CNN: Does the administration still plan to abide by that court ruling?
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar)October 6, 2025
STEPHEN MILLER: The administration filed an appeal this morning … … …
CNN: Stephen? Stephen? Can you hear me?
MILLER: … … …pic.twitter.com/9JihkIV1nQ
“Well, the administration filed an appeal this morning with the Ninth Circuit,” he said. “I would note the administration won an identical case in the Ninth Circuit just a few months ago with respect to the federalising of the California National Guard.
“Under Title 10 of the US Code, the president has plenary authority…” Miller said before completely stopping.
“Stephen? Stephen? Hey Stephen, can you hear me?” Sanchez asked as Miller failed to respond.
Sanchez then terminated the interview and apologised to viewers, claiming that there “seems to be some technical issues.”
What is plenary authority and does Trump have it?
The term plenary authority, sometimes known as plenary power, is a complete and absolute power for an individual or official to take action on a particular issue. The word plenary derives from the Latin term Plenus, as in ‘full’.
It would essentially mean that Trump would have absolute, wide-ranging power to make decisions without oversight.
Title 10 of the United States Code outlines the general role of the US armed forces. A provision in the Title allows the US president to call the National Guard into service if the US is invaded or “a rebellion or danger of rebellion” is present.
However, this is not an absolute power. The president’s ability to deploy the National Guard may only be invoked if certain conditions are met and is subject to scrutiny from Congress and federal courts.
As such, the provision does not give Trump absolute power to deploy US troops wherever he pleases and it does not give him plenary authority.
The claim, rather, seems to be part of a continued push by the administration to give Trumpincreasing– and troubling – levels of power.
In August, while discussing his rights todeploy the National Guardto Chicago, Trump said: “I have the right to do anything I want to do. I’m the president of the United States.”
Addressing claims that he is attempting to instil a dictatorship, Trump said: “Trump is a dictator, most people say, if he stops crime, he can be whatever he wants.”
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