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Hi, this is Lisa. And I'm Kevin in Madison, Indiana. And we're entertaining friends,

visitors, and musicians. This podcast was recorded at 12.19 p.m. on Wednesday, October 22nd,

2025. Things may have changed by the time you hear this.

But we will still be listening to live music in Madison, Indiana's Music City. Enjoy the show.

Nice. Well, that was delightful.

That's very nice.

Hey there, it's the NPR Politics Podcast. I'm Deepa Shiverum. I cover the White House.

I'm Claudia Riesales. I cover Congress. And I'm Mara Liason, senior national political correspondent.

And today on the show, we're asking, where does Congress's authority end and President Trump's

begin? Between the spending fights on Capitol Hill and the administration's recent military

strikes on boats in the Caribbean, executive power is being used in pretty unexpected ways.

So, Claudia, let's start with you. These strikes on the boats in the Caribbean, the administration

says these are part of an effort to fight the illegal drug trade.

But what role does Congress have in these actions or what role should Congress have in these actions?

So starting with Congress and the role they have in these strikes, it's not much of a role, especially when you consider how little

Congress has intervened here. That lack of intervention signals how weak this Congress

actually is. So the public is left with more questions than answers and virtually no oversight.

If Congress was involved, if we've looked at past precedent, Congress would be conducting in-depth

...