When President Donald Trump and his allies speak of "draining the swamp," they are not only attacking liberals, progressives and Democrats — they also have an intense disdain for traditional non-MAGA conservatives and have made a concerted effort to purge Never Trump conservatives from Congress, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and right-wing media. Conservatives and libertarians who vigorously attack Trump from the right aren't hard to find, but they tend to congregate on MSNBC or The Bulwark and don't have a major presence on right-wing outlets like Fox News.
Another area where MAGA Republicans are declaring war on traditional conservatives, according to New York Magazine's Ben Terris, is political lobbying.
In an article published on July 10, Terris examines a "new breed" of MAGA lobbyists who are making their presence felt in Washington, DC — and they have vehement contempt for Never Trumpers and traditional non-MAGA conservatives.
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"The passage of Trump’s signature legislation earlier this month proved there are still plenty of Big Beautiful Billable Hours for K Streeters," Terris explains, "but the ground game is changing fast…. In his second term, Trump has remade Washington in his own image. His administration is stocked with loyalists who were forced to pass purity tests."
A GOP lobbyist, interviewed on condition of anonymity, told New York Magazine, "Lobbying used to be Congress-focused, but they're not driving the show anymore. They are all now taking orders from the (Trump) Administration. Trump is outsize now, even compared to his last term."
According to Breitbart Media's Matt Boyle, a strident Trump supporter, conservative non-MAGA lobbyists have lost a lot of ground in Washington, DC.
Boyle told New York Magazine, "There's an ongoing battle right now with Trump-aligned folks in the lobbying-and-influence industry to expose and remove people who are anti-Trump from key positions in official Washington. It's going to be like the shootout at the OK Corral….. The whole point of this industry is to be someone who has a seat at the table, and if you're a Bush-globalist, establishment-loser Republican, then you don't get a seat at the table."
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Nonetheless, Terris notes that "in Trump's Washington….. there's a fine line between being successful and being too successful." And a popular expression among 2025's MAGA lobbyists, he says, is "Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered."
"War Room" host and far-right MAGA Republican Steve Bannon said of right-wing lobbyists, "They all keep a low profile now. Eight years ago, they were promoting themselves. The smart ones try to stay behind the scenes."
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Read the full New York Magazine article at this link (subscription required).