What exactly is the “deep state” and who specifically is part of it?
There are about 8,000 members of the Senior Executive Service, a civil service position established by Jimmy Carter in 1979. You can find their names listed on government websites.
These unelected career bureaucrats hold their positions in government often for many decades. In many ways their power is greater than that of elected officials. Their agenda is consistently anti-American. They are a form of secret society, in that the American people are overwhelmingly unaware of their existence and actions.
The terms “deep state” and “cabal” are often used interchangeably, but they’re not necessarily the same. The latter group are more nebulous than the former which I described above. The cabal refers to groups like high level bankers, members of secret societies and elite families whose global influence goes back many centuries.
The shadow government is another term which technically refers to the members of the intelligence agencies who also use their positions to enact policies and other structures which are contrary to the Constitution and the interests of the American public.