Talking Feds

In the immediate aftermath of the $1.9 trillion recovery package, the Biden administration is readying the most ambitious and progressive set of economic reforms in the country in at least the last 50 years, with a total price tag of $3-4 trillion. Nobel-Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, former Council of Economic Advisers member Betsey Stevenson, and former senator Al Franken join Harry to br...

This week we turn our sights to the United States Senate, as a phenomenal group of experts–Bill Kristol, Jen Rubin, & Senator Whitehouse–join Harry to break down the most important & challenging topics on the Senate’s plate. We first consider the prospects for passage of landmark voting rights legislation, including the possible elimination of the filibuster. We then turn to oversight of unsolved...

It was a historic week for the country and the presidency, with passage of a 1.9 trillion stimulus that represented the most fundamental alteration in the role of government in at least 50 years. Congressman Joaquin Castro, Joe Lockhart, Laura Jarrett, & Matt Miller join Harry to analyze the landmark provision. They then turn to immigration, where Biden's ambitious plans face less certain prospect...

The Feds go back to basics and back to our roots with a nuts-and-bolts prosecutors’ dissection of the three potential criminal cases against Donald Trump—in Fulton County, Manhattan, and the DOJ--from the vantage point of the concrete specifics that experienced prosecutors focus on in determining whether to bring a case. Cynthia Alksne, Judge John Gleeson, Jen Rodgers & Andrew Weissmann join Harry...

No government agency bore the impact of Trump’s wrath more than the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Trump singled out the Bureau, the traditional crown jewel of U.S. law enforcement agencies, for outrageous and vicious slander. Three of the country’s most prominent and thoughtful experts on the FB–Frank Figliuzzi, Andy McCabe, and Asha Rangappa– discuss the damage the last four years inflicted an...

It was a week of intense storms, natural and political. Record-setting frigid weather spread across the country from Washington to Texas, and a cold war took effect between Mitch McConnell and Donald Trump. A stellar set of guests—Lawrence O’Donnell, Ashley Parker, and Norm Eisen—join Harry for a bottom-line assessment of the impeachment, an analysis of the GOP sturm und drang, a look at the first...

As the evidence in the second impeachment trial draws to a close, an expert panel of legal and congressional experts – Matt Miller, Norm Ornstein, and Hakeem Jeffries, who served as a House Manager in the previous impeachment trial – join Harry to analyze the trial and what an acquittal portends for the future of Trump, Trumpism, and the GOP.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Ca...

This week Talking Feds turns its view outward, to the challenges in foreign policy the new Administration inherits. After 4 years of aberrant foreign policy that saw the US bully our allies and coddle our enemies, the Biden Administration faces a different herculean task trying to right the ship of state, with the complication of China’s arrival as an economic superpower. Anne Appelbaum, Garry Kas...

The debris from the Trump years litters the political landscape, and it’s a herculean task to try to clean up the mess and repair our constitutional foundations. Where to begin and who has the political will and interest to pursue it? And is it even possible, with some 70 million citizens, and much of the Republican Congress, still in thrall to Trump? Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith, whose book “Afte...

Three veterans of the heady first few days of a new Administration – Dee Dee Myers (Clinton), David Frum (George W. Bush), and Valerie Jarrett (Obama) – join Harry to analyze and critique the Biden Administration’s first few days and the challenges it faces for the first 100. Should the new government go big early? How will the impeachment trial affect it? Can Biden hold the Ds together while reac...

In another barnburner week, in which the first-ever second impeachment of a President was only one of several huge stories, Natasha Bertrand, Norm Ornstein, and former Senator Al Franken join Harry to break down the fallout from the storming of the Capitol. They then turn to Trump’s impeachment and coming trial, assessing the dynamic for Biden, Senate Republicans, and Trump himself, before taking...

On the most tumultuous week of the Trump presidency, and one of the most in US history, Congressmen Eric Swalwell, George Conway, & Laura Jarrett join Harry to discuss whether the President can hang on for 12 days to finish his term. The Feds discuss the triple challenge to Trump of the 25th Amend, impeachment, and prosecution, all based on inciting an insurrectionary mob of supporters to storm th...

In this special Talking Feds Now, Harry convenes with Andrew Weissmann, Sam Vinograd, Jennifer Rodgers, and Steve Vladeck to discuss one of the most harrowing and memorable days of our lifetime, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. They discuss the dozens of questions this raises, including sedition, possibilities of impeachment, the 25th Amendment, and national security risks. See Privacy P...

This week we expect Biden will announce his selections for DOJ brass, including solicitor general, the executive branch's lawyer in the Supreme Court. In this special episode recorded last year at George Washington University, we go beyond the basics to discuss the role which has a huge importance in the development of constitutional law with Seth Waxman, the forty-first solicitor general serving...

All eyes turn to Georgia for the all-important Senate runoffs on January 5, with control of the Senate at stake. A fantastic panel combining local and national knowledge, experience, and political savvy – former Columbus, GA mayor Teresa Tomlinson, new Congresswoman Elect Nikema Williams, DNC Chair Tom Perez, and Democratic strategist extraordinaire Bob Shrum – join Harry to describe the scene on...

In a week when the virus hit ravaging new levels and we learned of a huge new hack; but also in which people first began to get the vaccine and key leaders in Congress recognized Biden’s election, Congressman Ted Lieu, CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash, and Pulitzer-prize winning New York Times journalist Michael Schmidt join Harry to discuss the political road ahead, the resignation of...

A back-to-basics Talking Feds with three highly experienced prosecutors and DOJ veterans: Jen Rodgers, Mimi Rocah (now the DA for Westchester County), and Andrew Weissmann. The group joins Harry in discussing the potential charges against Hunter Biden and then conjectures whether President Trump’s lobbying campaign to state officials might have broken any laws. They close with an extended discussi...

With the virus spiking ever upwards and a winter that promises to be the most challenging time in US public health history, a phenomenal set of guests —Senator Michael Bennett, Natasha Bertrand, and Fareed Zakaria—join Harry to look ahead at the measures the country needs to take on the health and economic fronts. They then assess the ongoing damage to the country of President Trump’s narcissistic...

With national security issues rife, it’s time for a return trip to the Double Agent Bar & Grill to eavesdrop on the candid conversations of top national security experts. Frank Figliuzzi, Sam Vinograd, Josh Campbell, & Kate Brannen trade notes on what Biden’s new team projects about his national security operation; how to repair the damage that 4 years of Trump rule has inflicted on our national s...

On a week in which new daily virus cases approached 200,000 with 250,000 Americans dead, President Trump focused on his preposterous claims to have won the election, in the process continuing to block President-Elect Biden from formally beginning the transition. Charter feds Frank Figliuzzi, Paul Fishman, and Amy Jeffress discuss the costs to national security and the country of Trump’s hopeless c...

Peter Baker, Laura Jarrett and Robert Raben join Harry to discuss a strange and troubling week when President Trump, abetted by cabinet members and Senate Republicans, hunkered down and refused to allow President-Elect Joe Biden to begin a transition. The group analyzes the harm that the Trump charade is causing before turning to what Biden’s first moves and appointments suggest about his upcoming...

In the wake of the call of the election for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, Feds Natasha Bertrand, Joe Lockhart, and Mike Murphy review Biden’s winning strategy. They then analyze the relative underperformance of down-ticket Democratic candidates and what it says about the state of US political culture. Finally, they turn to the challenges the new Administration inherits, offering some surprising con...

The day after the contested Presidential election, Feds Matt Miller, Melissa Murray, and Norm Ornstein convene to explain just where the country is and where we’re headed. They canvass some improbable scenarios before zeroing in on the pivotal states (PA, AZ, NEV, and GA and a sophisticated analysis of each one. They then analyze why Trump out-performed the polls, what it says about the country, a...

A powerhouse crew of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Congress Member Adam Schiff and Kristen Clarke, President of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, join Harry to take final stock of the political landscape just before the election. They assess the closing statements of Trump and Biden and then move to the rushed and completely partisan confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett. Finally, they c...

In the wake of the final presidential debate, Vanita Gupta, Matt Miller, and Congressman Jamie Raskin join Harry to analyze the candidates’ final messages and anticipate what possible bumps may lie on the short ride to the finish line. Trump turned in a more disciplined performance but lied promiscuously; Biden scored strong hits on the virus and immigration and directly connected with voters on k...