In Donald Trump’s world, you’re either with him or you’re against him. Demonstrate over-the-top fealty, you stay in the fold. Fail to do so, well—ask now-former director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire how that goes.

This one-way fidelity has mostly been enforced by the president himself, via his Twitter feed. But now, emboldened since his impeachment acquittal, Trump appears to be formalizing the process of weeding out anyone who isn’t a true believer. According to Axios, Johnny McEntee, head of the president’s personnel office, has been enlisted to oversee a purge of “bad people”—that is, officials rumored to be anti-Trump—from the administration. The former Trump body man and aide “called in White House liaisons from cabinet agencies for an introductory meeting Thursday,” the outlet reported, and ordered them to name political appointees who might not be sufficiently loyal.

The effort comes as an unshackled Trump ousts officials who have angered him—like Alexander Vindman, the National Security Council official who testified in the impeachment trial—and surrounds himself with more sycophants, like Richard Grenell, who is serving as acting director of national intelligence in the wake of Maguire’s sacking.

Trump, of course, has always been preoccupied with allegiance. For instance, he reportedly wanted former attorney general Jeff Sessions to be his “Roy Cohn” during the Russia probe. The difference now is that he has such officials in place to enable and protect him, and to go after his perceived enemies. Public enemy number one appears to be the anonymous official who wrote an infamous New York Times op-ed, and subsequent book, describing a “resistance” inside the White House to protect the nation from the president’s incompetence and recklessness. Peter Navarro, Trump’s top trade adviser, has been leading a manhunt for the mysterious, still-unnamed official behind the screeds for weeks, and has apparently determined it was aide Victoria Coates. He doesn’t appear to have provided any evidence to back up his rumor, and yet the deputy national security adviser was just shuffled over to the Department of Energy. “Suspects are everywhere,” Navarro told CNN on Friday, confirming he is attempting to sniff out Anonymous.

For a guy quick to scream “WITCH HUNT!”, Trump seems untroubled by the McCarthyism within his administration. Trump acknowledged to reporters this week that a search was underway for Anonymous. And, he claimed, “I know who it is.” Whether he in fact knows who it is doesn’t exactly matter; the quest to unmask the op-ed writer reflects a broader effort within the administration to root out dissent and stock the West Wing with unabashed enablers. It appears to be working, as the so-called “adults in the room,” ineffective as they were, are all gone, and replaced by the likes of Mike Pompeo and William Barr. By formalizing the process, however, it seems likely he could take the loyalty requirement to another level—particularly if he wins reelection in November. He’s already been clearing the DOJ of allegedly disloyal officials; with McEntee at the helm, Trump is now poised to clean house at the Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, and beyond.

More Great Stories From Vanity Fair

— After acquittal, Trump plots revenge on Bolton and other impeachment enemies

— Behind the scenes of Trump’s secret birther implosion

— Why Bernie’s message and media machine could be potent against Trump

— With accused wife-murderer Fotis Dulos on life support, a look inside the grim end of a perfect couple

— The hedge fund vampire that bleeds newspapers dry now has the Chicago Tribune by the throat

— The most deranged moments from Trump’s post-acquittal press conference

— From the Archive: If Donald Trump is the political equivalent of a pathogen, who’s responsible for letting him wreak havoc in the national bloodstream?

Looking for more? Sign up for our daily Hive newsletter and never miss a story.