Every time US president Donald Trump finds himself under attack or just stymied in one of his policy initiatives, his supporters blame the Deep State. The Deep State is behind the "Russiagate" probes. The Deep State doesn't like his Muslim travel ban or his ObamaCare replacement bill. The Deep State keeps forcing him to break his campaign promises of a less misadventurous US foreign policy.

I'm expecting reports, any day now, that the Deep State stole his limo keys and left the toilet seats up in the residence area of the White House.

So what, precisely, is the Deep State?  There's actually both more and less to it than you might think.

Defining the Deep State

In a recent Bloomberg column, former Obama administration regulatory czar Cass Sunstein defines the Deep State as merely "the talented professionals who serve both Democratic and Republican administrations, and who are civil servants rather than political appointees." While not incorrect as such, that definition is superficial and not especially informative.