In the case of Priebus and Conway the waivers were given because both of them worked for the Republican party and they are still in contact with it. In the case of Bannon, the waiver was because he used to run Breitbart. That way he could continue being in contact with Breitbart.
But there were cases in which the waivers were spefically for lobbying.
From The New York Times:
Andrew Olmem, who until recently was a Washington-based partner at the law firm Venable L.L.P., is a special assistant to the president for financial policy after he lobbied the federal government on behalf of a number of financial firms, including American Express, MetLife and S&P Global. Mr. Olmem’s waiver allows for him to participate in communications and meetings with former clients involving Puerto Rico’s financial issues, as well as amendments to the Flood Disaster Protection Act and reforming the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s treatment of insurers, the White House said.
A second waiver was given to Michael Catanzaro, who until January was registered as a lobbyist for companies including Devon Energy, an oil and gas company, and Talen Energy, a coal-burning electric utility. Mr. Catanzaro moved from lobbying against Obama-era environmental rules to overseeing the White House office in charge of rolling back the same rules, an activity permitted by his waiver.
Also receiving a waiver was Shahira Knight, who had been a lobbyist for Fidelity Investments and now serves as a special assistant to the president for tax and retirement policy — the same topic she had lobbied on while working for Fidelity, one of the largest retirement-investment companies in the United States.
In other words, Trump not only allowed the swamp to continue, but he expanded it right into the West Wing.
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