The "Deep State" is a collection of public / civil servants?

They Are Not the Resistance. They Are Not a Cabal. They Are Public Servants
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/opinion/trump-impeachment-testimony.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytopinion

"The deep state isn't a secret, antidemocratic cabal. It's a collection of public servants looking to guard the Republic"
https://twitter.com/nytopinion/status/1186250811665457152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1186250811665457152&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rt.com%2Fusa%2F472398-deep-state-ex-cia-boss%2F

"Their common enemy—to be blamed when high expectations are disappointed—is the reviled “deep state,” that amorphous cadre of public servants and gatekeepers who execute the nation’s business."
https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/02/04/dont-fear-the-deep-state-its-the-shallow-state-that-will-destroy-us-trump-theresa-may-netanyahu-brexit-israel-populism/

"At least some of the civil servants who make government work — law enforcement officials, intelligence operatives and others he derisively calls the “deep state” — are fighting back"
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2019-10-02/the-deep-state-is-fighting-back

"for what is now called the Deep State, or what has variously been called the “permanent government” or the “military-industrial complex”."
https://medium.com/@dangeddes_24241/thank-god-for-the-deep-state-5d45b1c6f6a2