Welcome to Talking Feds, a roundtable that brings together prominent former federal officials and special guests for dynamic discussion of the most important political and legal topics of the day.

I'm Harry Littman. Street showdowns with federal agents have

intensified in Illinois, where a judge took a top border patrol official to task for

repeatedly violating her orders against excessive use of force, including on journalists and

religious figures. Meanwhile, Trump continues to make

noise about upping the ante by sending in military forces. But he's been saying that for months,

and he's clearly reticent to take that ugly step. And yet, the administration has taken any

number of steps that potentially could lay the

groundwork for interference with next year's midterm elections. Trump, this term, has swapped out a series

of key personnel who resisted his coup efforts last time around, leaving him with a far stronger hand to foment chaos and potentially

change election results. It's not too early to cast a level eye on democracy's ability to preserve itself,

which would depend ultimately on the resistance of the people. But first come a handful of elections tomorrow that have important consequences in themselves

and also may serve as bellwethers for the prospects of a definitive rejection of Trump's autocratic agenda in 2026.

To dig into the increasingly out-of-control federal presence in Chicago and

elsewhere, the upcoming elections, and the warning signs that Trump may try to interfere with

the midterms, I'm very pleased to welcome. David Graham, Dave is a staff writer at the Atlantic,

he led the magazine celebrated reporting on Project

2025, which turned into his first book, The Project. Previously, he won the Toner Prize for

Excellence in National Political Reporting for his coverage of the 2020 presidential election. It's his first time on talking feds.

Welcome, David.

Thank you.

Katie Fang, a stalwart, not her first time,

...