As I see it, governments themselves are often rent seeking operations. By increasing taxes, they increase their share of the wealth of the nation, and depending on how that money is used, it could very well be considered rent seeking. Usually the term is used for business sectors interacting with government to get those tax dollars, but I don't think that's the only valid use.
If the normal functioning of the government is rent seeking, then everything is rent seeking. If everything is rent seeking, then the term doesn't distinguish anything in reality from anything else.
You can't have a discussion about rent seeking without the context that there is such a thing as legitimate government that functions in such a way as to provide public goods.
How can the government be accused of it? When private entities engage in rent seeking, they are manipulating the government for profit.
And when private entities do things that do not involve manipulating the government, then how can it be rent seeking?
Rent seeking does not mean literally, simply, "seeking rent". I know people like to say the meaning of words change, but you have to be talking about the same thing as other people using the same word.