Real quick before the show, we got a raffle going on. The winner of this year's raffle can choose between $10,000 cash or $15,000 in travel credit to anywhere in the world. Your choice. The more raffle tickets you buy, the cheaper they get. One ticket is $50. You get three for $100 or six for $150.

All the money from the raffle goes to support this podcast and all the work of NHPR's newsroom.

The deadline for the raffle is December 7th.

You can find a link to get tickets in the show notes or at civics 101podcast.org.

All right, on to the show.

New Senate Majority Leader John Thune in coming next year.

Today seemed fairly open to Trump's idea of bypassing Senate approval of his cabinet

picks by using recess appointments.

Is that how this is going to go down?

Checking your rulebook, but you won't find anything in there that says a dog can't play.

You're listening to Civics 101.

I'm Nick Capadice.

I'm Hannah McCarthy.

And today we are answering not one, but two listener questions.

We've gotten some amazing ones already.

If you want to ask one, just give us a holler at Civics 101 at nhpr.org.

Okay, for today, first off, we've got Maddie from Nashville, Tennessee.

Oh, I love Nashville. Me too. I love the city and the Robert Altman movie.

Y'all take it easy now. This isn't Dallas, it's Nashville. And here's what Maddie wrote to us.

I just recently started listening to and very much enjoying your podcast. Can you explain

what the president's cabinet does and why they are important? How much power does the chief of

staff actually have? Every political TV show, not the strongest frame of reference I know,

...