Welcome to Talking Feds, a round table that brings together prominent former federal officials

and special guests for a dynamic discussion of the most important legal topics of the day.

I'm Harry Littman.

There continues to be only one story in the U.S. and the world, and it grows more complicated

and concerning by the day.

The numbers of cases of the virus are climbing and will certainly accelerate.

Credible health experts predict as many as a million deaths in the United States.

Businesses and daily life are utterly dislocated.

The economy is in free fall and large portions of the country, including New York and California,

are forbidden to leave their houses except for essential functions.

We are living out of time and place, isolated from each other, with no foreseeable endpoint.

This last week we've seen the federal government and President wake up and realize that the

house is on fire.

The federal government is now fully engaged, in some cases still a step behind state

and local governments which have been imposing extreme measures for extreme times.

We want today to focus on government's response at all levels, and at some of the

difficult and to date under explored issues of law and policy that the various measures

put into play.

Is it for starters, uncontroversial?

The governments can respond to an emergency, and no doubt that's where we are, by telling

whole cities and states where they can go and when, whom they can associate with, whether

they can get medical care and other similar edicts.

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