7月中旬，极右翼活动人士劳拉·卢默(Laura Loomer)在X上发表了一篇针对一名海关和边境保护局高级官员的长篇帖子，指责他有“反特朗普、支持开放边境和支持DEI的偏见”，并要求他离开联邦政府。
“为什么这个家伙是CBP的高级国家安全顾问，为什么他是@CBP国家审查中心的主任?”卢默提到了这位名叫蒙特·霍金斯的官员，他曾为四位总统服务，包括民主党总统和共和党总统特朗普政府2018年。
不到48小时后，在直接向国土安全部发出呼吁后，Loomer说，一名官员亲自联系了她，感谢她放大了信息，后来告诉她Hawkins已经被撤职。
“我两天前发布了我的报告。现在他被解雇了，”Loomer在x上写道。当被问及霍金斯的状况时，一名DHS官员告诉ABC新闻，霍金斯被行政休假。
这一插曲是一个清晰的例子，不仅说明了卢莫的压力运动是如何运作的，而且说明了她是如何越来越多地扮演一个非官方但有影响力的角色，作为一个针对目标的政治执行者行政官员她认为这是对唐纳德·特朗普总统的不忠。
“我不再数了”
在特朗普的第二个任期内，卢默挑出官员进行免职的努力正受到她所针对的联邦机构越来越紧迫的处理——将特朗普的一个外部盟友交给了一个相当大的权力。
Loomer开始时是右翼组织Project Veritas的一名卧底特工，她自称的任务是清除她所说的政府官员对总统不忠——尤其是那些曾在拜登政府下任职或此前曾诋毁特朗普的人——包括一些曾在特朗普第一个任期内任职的人。
根据美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)的统计，到目前为止，卢莫的压力活动已经导致特朗普第二届政府中至少15人被驱逐，要么是直接解雇，要么是撤销六个不同联邦机构的高级政治提名。
当被问及她帮助驱逐了多少官员时，卢莫告诉美国广播公司新闻说:“我已经不记得了。”。“太多了，记不住。”
就在上周，特朗普政府赶走了FDA疫苗负责人Vinay Prasad博士，解除了国家安全局总法律顾问April Falcon Doss的职务，并撤销了Jen Easterly担任西点军校社会科学系主任的任命-每一项举措都是在Loomer的公开攻击和压力后不久采取的。
“这个星期这么多头皮!把它们堆起来!”Loomer本周在X上写道，在一系列驱逐事件后，至少部分归功于她的努力。
伊斯特利曾为乔治·布什总统的国家安全顾问康多莉扎·赖斯(Condoleezza Rice)工作，并在拜登总统领导下领导网络安全和基础设施安全局(network Security and infra structure Security Agency)。周四，他在LinkedIn上表示，“作为一名终身的独立人士，我在和平时期为我们的国家服务，并在共和党和民主党政府下战斗，”而且“不幸的是，再次在母校服务的机会被取消了——这是偶然制造的愤怒的牺牲品，淹没了真理的平静劳动和诚信的稳定脉动。”
卢默的竞选活动帮助导致了一些机构的官员离职，包括国家安全局、国家安全委员会、司法部、卫生与公众服务部、食品药品监督管理局和国防部。大多数官员都曾在政府中担任或被提名担任高级职务，包括国家安全局局长蒂莫西·霍将军联邦检察官莫琳·科米(Maurene Comey)和特朗普最初挑选的卫生局局长，詹妮特·内斯海瓦特博士.
Loomer告诉美国广播公司新闻，她通过综合研究和从她的提示热线或社交媒体上的追随者那里收到的提示找到她的目标。她说，一些建议甚至来自特朗普政府的其他官员。
“我自己做了很多研究...我每天都有小费，”她说。
一旦她确定了一个新的目标，Loomer说，她经常私下向相关的内阁官员或机构报告她的发现，敦促他们采取行动。但如果她觉得自己的研究被忽视了，Loomer说她会将斗争公之于众，并利用她在大型社交媒体上的关注来加大对政府采取行动的压力。
“有时我会私信，有时我会发帖，”卢默说。“但如果从我公开到采取行动的时间间隔太长，我就必须公开。”
“人们认为他们可以坐在他们的荣誉上，等待和玩弄他们的拇指，这不是它是如何工作的，”她说。
当她公开她的攻击时，Loomer的杠杆作用的主要部分似乎显示出来了。Loomer针对官员的帖子经常在X上和整个MAGA圈子里疯传，很快获得了数百万次点击和数万次点赞和转发，给政府施加了更大的压力。
我和总统有交流
但情况并非总是如此。
多年来，Loomer被禁止在Twitter上发布针对众议员Ilhan Omar的反穆斯林帖子，违反了仇恨言论政策。当科技亿万富翁、特朗普的支持者埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)收购Twitter并将其更名为X时，她恢复了原职——但即使在那时，卢莫也向马斯克抱怨说，她的账户被节流和屏蔽，这两种方式据说是该平台限制访问内容的方式。
这些说法在1月底停止了，而Loomer的X帐户印象激增-正如她针对政府官员的努力一样。
Loomer说，通过她的工作，她与联邦政府和白宫的高级官员以及特朗普本人直接接触。
“我已经和总统沟通过了。我是一个很大的支持者，我将继续支持，”卢默说。
当被问及她经常与多少内阁官员联系时，卢默说，“我的意思是，我认识很多人。”
“我在这一行工作了很长时间，”她说，她把寻求评论描述为她新闻工作的一部分。但与大多数记者不同的是，卢莫通常呼吁解雇这些官员，并经常庆祝结果。
消息人士告诉ABC新闻，在一些联邦机构，她的社交帖子助长了焦虑，每当新官员成为目标时，一些工作人员就会在内部群聊中分享这些帖子。
在接二连三的攻击中，很少有人公开回应她的说法。一位接近卢莫目标的人告诉美国广播公司新闻，她的许多目标都不敢说出来，因为害怕报复和对他们未来职业前景的潜在影响。
"对许多人来说，如果你没有她那样的平台，你就是在拿着一把黄油刀进行一场真正的刀战，"该人士表示。
当被问及卢默的影响时，白宫发言人库什·德赛在给美国广播公司新闻的一份声明中说，“政府继续招聘最合格和最有经验的员工，这些员工完全符合特朗普总统让美国再次伟大的议程，这不仅是合适的，而且是至关重要的。”
德赛说:“本届政府已经为美国人民带来的成果——从和平协议到贸易协议——证明特朗普总统已经聚集了最优秀、最聪明的人才，把美国人和美国放在第一位。”
特朗普在周末被问及卢莫的影响时表示，虽然她以“激进右翼”而闻名，但他认为她是“爱国者”。
“我认为她是一个爱国者，她很兴奋，因为她是一个爱国者，”特朗普告诉记者。“她不喜欢她认为对国家有害的事情。我喜欢她。”
今年3月，Loomer开办了自己的咨询公司Loomered Strategies，她说她在那里为客户提供关于反对派研究和审查的建议。她告诉《纽约时报》，她有五个客户，她的活动总收入约为30万美元。
随着卢默的知名度上升，一些网上的批评者指责她被付钱给特定的官员和被任命者，卢默对此进行了反驳。
“哇，你是在告诉我，我可能会因为简单地指出一个明显的事实而获得10万美元的报酬，即一个讨厌特朗普、热爱激进左翼的人不应该进入特朗普政府?”Loomer上周在X上写道，回应一位批评者指责她受雇于目标Prasad。
我自己的独立机构
随着她越来越多的“头皮”，MAGA基地的许多人呼吁让Loomer在特朗普政府中担任正式职务，并质疑为什么还没有发生。
她声称总统已经多次向她提供这种东西，但每次都被阻止。
知情人士告诉美国广播公司新闻，一些人认为卢莫和白宫工作人员之间的关系是一种持续的平衡行为，因为高级官员努力利用她的影响和影响力——以及与总统的密切关系——同时仍试图与她保持距离。
消息人士称，政府内部的一些人已经将Loomer的工作作为一种工具，针对他们试图罢免的其他官员。
“特朗普政府给了我四份工作，但基本上都被拿走了，因为特朗普总统的一些工作人员患有无法治愈的职业嫉妒症，”卢莫说。
如果她继续得不到一个正式的职位，Loomer告诉ABC新闻，她计划继续作为她自己的“独立机构”运作。
“如果嫉妒的工作人员拒绝我进入，我也将被拒绝进入新闻发布室，即使我比大多数有权进入的人更值得进入，那么我必须作为我自己的独立机构运作，”她说。
“所以它基本上就像我自己的机构一样，在白宫和联邦政府的范围之外运作，”Loomer说。
Loomer说，她不知道特朗普身边的哪些工作人员阻止她以官方身份加入政府，但她不责怪总统。
“我不知道”那些员工是谁，她说。“这是一个需要媒体去发现的问题。我只是觉得，我可能被雇佣了四次，却被封杀，这真的很奇怪。我并不因为特朗普总统的一些工作人员对我的行为方式而反对他。但它是房间里的一头大象。”
当被问及卢莫是否被提供了政府中的职位，但后来被拒绝，或者为什么，白宫没有回答这个问题。
卢默清除官员的努力并没有全部成功，一些官员在她的攻击中幸存下来。
尽管几乎可以追溯到特朗普第二任期开始时的几个月的批评，但有一个人仍然在位:司法部长帕姆·邦迪(Pam Bondi)，卢默因其处理爱泼斯坦文件等问题。
“我是说，我不是粉丝。当被问及她对邦迪的看法是否有所改变时，卢默说。
当被问及她是否仍然认为邦迪会被解雇，正如她自2月份以来一直呼吁的那样，卢默回答说，“可能不会。”
“特朗普总统已经对她做出了决定。但就像我说的，我的意思是，我袖手旁观我的报道，”卢默说。
How Laura Loomer's pressure campaigns are reshaping the Trump administration
In mid-July, far-right activist Laura Loomer fired off a lengthy post on X targeting a senior Customs and Border Protection official, accusing him of having "Anti-Trump, pro-Open Borders, and Pro-DEI Bias," and demanding his removal from the federal government.
"Why is this guy a Senior national security advisor at CBP, and why is he the Director of the National Vetting Center at @CBP?" Loomer wrote of the official, Monte Hawkins, who served under four presidents, both Democrat and Republican, and was previously appointed by theTrump administrationin 2018.
Less than 48 hours later, after also sending an appeal directly to the Department of Homeland Security, Loomer says an official personally contacted her, thanked her for amplifying the information, and later informed her that Hawkins had been removed.
"I posted my report 2 days ago. Now he's FIRED," Loomer wrote on X. When asked about Hawkins' status, a DHS official told ABC News that Hawkins was placed on administrative leave.
The episode is a clear example not only of how Loomer's pressure campaigns operate, but how she has increasingly carved out an unofficial but influential role as a political enforcer targetingadministration officialsshe sees as disloyal to President Donald Trump.
'I don't keep count anymore'
In Trump's second term, Loomer's efforts to single out officials for removal are being treated with growing urgency by the federal agencies she targets -- handing an outside ally of Trump a significant level of power.
Loomer, who got her start as an undercover operative for the right-wing sting group Project Veritas, has been on a self-proclaimed mission to rid the administration of officials she says aredisloyal to the president-- particularly those who served under the Biden administration or have previously disparaged Trump -- including some who served in Trump's first term.
By ABC News' count, Loomer's pressure campaigns have so far contributed to the ouster of at least 15 individuals from Trump's second administration, through either direct firings or the withdrawal of senior political nominations, across six different federal agencies.
"I don't keep count anymore," Loomer told ABC News when asked how many officials she had helped force out. "There's too many to keep track of."
Just last week, the Trump administration pushed out FDA vaccine chief Dr. Vinay Prasad, removed NSA General Counsel April Falcon Doss, and rescinded Jen Easterly's appointment as chair of West Point's social sciences department -- each move coming shortly after public attacks and pressure from Loomer.
"So many scalps this week! Stacking them up!" Loomer wrote on X this week following a string of ousters thanks at least in part to her efforts.
Easterly, who previously worked for President George Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and led the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency under President Biden, posed Thursday on LinkedIn, "As a lifelong independent, I've served our nation in peacetime and combat under Republican and Democratic administrations" and that "Unfortunately, the opportunity to serve again at my alma mater was rescinded -- a casualty of casually manufactured outrage that drowned out the quiet labor of truth and the steady pulse of integrity."
Loomer's campaigns have helped lead to the departures of officials from agencies including the National Security Agency, the National Security Council, the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Defense. Most of the officials had held or were nominated for senior roles in the administration, including NSA DirectorGen. Timothy Haugh, federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, and Trump's original pick for surgeon general,Dr. Janette Nesheiwat.
Loomer told ABC News she finds her targets through a mix of research and tips she receives from her tip line or from followers on social media. Some tips even come from other Trump administration officials, she said.
"I do a lot of the research myself ... I get tips every day," she said.
Once she identifies a new target, Loomer says she often privately flags her findings to the relevant cabinet official or agency, urging them to take action. But if she feels her research is being ignored, Loomer says she will take the fight public and use her large social media following to ramp up the pressure for the administration to take action.
"Sometimes I go private, and then sometimes I post," Loomer said. "But if too much time passes between the time that I go private and the time that action is taken, I have to go public."
"People think they can just sit on their laurels and wait and twiddle their thumbs, and that's not how it works," she said.
A major part of Loomer's leverage seems to show itself when she goes public with her attacks. Loomer's posts targeting officials often go viral on X and throughout MAGA circles, quickly grabbing millions of impressions and tens of thousands of likes and reposts, putting more pressure on the administration to act.
'I have communication with the president'
But that wasn't always the case.
For years, Loomer was banned from posting on Twitter for violating hate-speech policies with anti-Muslim posts targeting Rep. Ilhan Omar. She was reinstated when tech billionaire and Trump supporter Elon Musk purchased Twitter and renamed it X -- but even then, Loomer complained to Musk that her account was being throttled and shadowbanned, two ways in which the platform is said to limit access to content.
Those claims stopped at the end of January, and Loomer's X account impressions surged -- as did her efforts to target administration officials.
Through her work, Loomer says she's in direct contact with senior officials across the federal government and the White House -- as well as Trump himself.
"I have communication with the president. I'm a big supporter, and I'll remain a supporter," Loomer said.
When asked how many cabinet officials she's in touch with regularly, Loomer said, "I mean, I know a lot of people."
"I've been in this line of work for a very long time," she said, describing her outreach as requesting comment as part of her journalism. But unlike most journalists, Loomer is usually calling for those officials to be fired, and often celebrates the results.
In some federal agencies, her social posts have helped fuel anxiety, with some staffers sharing them in internal group chats whenever a new official is targeted, sources told ABC News.
Amid the barrage of attacks, few of those targeted by Loomer have publicly responded to her claims. One person close to someone Loomer targeted told ABC News that many of her targets are afraid to speak out due to fear of retaliation and the potential impact on their future career prospects.
"For a number of folks if you don't have the platform she does you're bringing a butter knife to a real knife fight," the person said.
Asked about Loomer's influence, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said in a statement to ABC News, "It is not only appropriate, but critical for the Administration to continue to recruit the most qualified and experienced staffers who are totally aligned with President Trump's agenda to Make America Great Again."
"The results that this Administration has already delivered for the American people -- from peace deals to trade deals -- prove that President Trump has assembled the best and brightest talent to put Americans and America First," Desai said.
Trump, asked over the weekend about Loomer's influence, said that while she is known as being "radical right," he views her as a "patriot."
"I think she's a patriot, and she gets excited because of the fact that she's a patriot," Trump told reporters. "And she doesn't like things going on that she thinks are bad for the country. I like her."
In March, Loomer launched her own consulting firm, Loomered Strategies, where she says she advises clients on opposition research and vetting. She told The New York Times that she has five clients and that overall her activities earn a gross income of about $300,000.
As Loomer's profile has risen, some critics online have accused her of being paid to target specific officials and appointees, which Loomer has pushed back on.
"Wow you're telling me I could have been paid $100,000 for simply pointing out the obvious that a Trump hater who loves the radical left shouldn't be in the Trump admin?" Loomer wrote last week on X, responding to a critic accusing her of being paid to target Prasad.
'My own independent agency'
With her growing list of "scalps," many in the MAGA base have called for Loomer to be given an official role inside the Trump administration, and have questioned why that hasn't happened yet.
It's something she claims the president has offered her multiple times, but has been blocked each time.
The relationship between Loomer and White House staff is viewed by some as an ongoing balancing act, as senior officials work to utilize her impact and influence -- and close relationship with the president -- while still trying to keep her at a distance, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.
Some inside the administration have used Loomer's work as a tool to target other officials they are seeking to have removed, sources said.
"I had four jobs given to me in this Trump administration that basically have been taken away from me because some of President Trump's staff suffer from the incurable disease of professional jealousy," Loomer said.
If she continues to be denied a formal position, Loomer told ABC News that she plans to keep operating as her "own independent agency."
"If I'm going to be denied access by jealous staffers, and I'm also going to be denied access to the press room as a credentialed member of the press, even though I'm more deserving than most of the people who have access, then I have to operate as my own independent agency," she said.
"So it's basically like my own agency that operates outside of the confines of the White House and the federal government," Loomer said.
Loomer says she doesn't know which staffers around Trump are stopping her from joining the administration in an official capacity, but she does not blame the president.
"I have no idea" who those staffers are, she said. "That's a question for the media to go find out. I just think it's really bizarre that I could be hired four times and [get blocked]. I don't hold it against President Trump for the way that some of his staff behaves towards me. But it is an elephant in the room."
When asked, the White House did not answer questions about whether Loomer had been offered positions in the administration that were later denied, or why.
Loomer's efforts to remove officials haven't all been successful, with a few officials having survived her attacks.
One in particular has remained in place despite months of criticism dating back almost to the start of Trump's second term: Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Loomer has targeted for her handling of theEpstein filesand other issues.
"I mean, I'm not a fan. I'm not a fan, but everybody knows that," Loomer said when asked whether her view of Bondi had changed.
Asked if she still believed Bondi would be fired, as she's called for since February, Loomer replied, "Probably not."
"President Trump has already made his decision on her. But like I said, I mean, I stand by my reporting," Loomer said.
