Podcast:Talking Feds Published On: Mon Dec 29 2025 Description: Talking Feds closes out 2025 with a close look at the institutional damage and lawlessness Trump has imposed on an essential arm of the U.S. government: the Department of Defense. CNN's Natasha Bertrand, the Washington Post's Alex Horton, and retired Major General Steven J. Lepper take Harry inside a Pentagon transformed by cowboy-in-chief Pete Hegseth. Why is the U.S. blowing up boats near Latin America? Did Hegseth oversee a war crime in the Caribbean? And what are the potential domestic dangers of the legal reasoning powering Trump's new uses of the military? Mentioned in this episode:Natasha's reporting.Alex's reporting.General Lepper's analysis. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices