The Trump transition team has lost nearly half its staff and volunteers in a matter of days since instituting a ban on registered lobbyists at the end of last week, the Daily Mail has learned.
...The sources estimated that the number of staffers and volunteers working on the transition plummeted from around 250 late last week to less than 125 on Tuesday. The sudden purge of lobbyists has allowed conservative think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) to take a stronger role in the transition.
Here is a recent Think Tank Watch piece on how the Heritage Foundation is vetting resumes for the Trump team. Here is a piece on the fact that many think tankers are worried about the new Trump era. And here is a piece about the new think tank landscape in Washington, DC.