Lol I'm pretty sure the "deep state" just means, "manipulating the levers of power from a place without accountablity/oversight" which covers both these shadowy hidden layers of govt you describe and the shadowy wealthy elites funding and lobbying for whatever. It can be both.
replySure, anything can mean whatever you want if you redefine anything to suit your whims at the time.
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replyI agree with parent, that's not how right-wing propaganda portrays the deep state. It's a strawman, of unaccountable government bureacrats. It excludes billionaires and dark money in politics (the real problem), they put themselves on the good side. (Remember DOGE?)
replyterm predates that right-wing propaganda
replyNevertheless the parent is correct: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_state#United_States
replyYour link refers to lots of different contexts,cherry picking one of them which you failed to cite to win your nit-picking argument is not productive, because it is just not agreeable.
replyAlso, your link specifically starts with:
""a hybrid association of government elements and parts of top-level industry and finance that is effectively able to govern the United States without reference to the consent of the governed as expressed through the formal political process."
which exactly how this was defined by your opponent.