Hypothetical question: Would hard anagram trouble "intelligent" federal leaders? (4,2)
I believe the answer is:
what if
'hypothetical question' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'would hard anagram trouble intelligent federal leaders?' is the wordplay.
'leaders?' indicates taking the first letters (I've seen 'leaders' mean this).
The first letters of 'would hard anagram trouble intelligent federal' is 'WHAT IF'.
(Other definitions for what if that I've seen before include "Suppose" , "Hypothetical situation" , "hypothetical question" , "How would things go when" , "How would it be when (something happened?)" .)