And Then There Were 9 (GOP Presidential Candidates)

By the end of this week, the number of major candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination is expected to grow to nine. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are all expected to jump into the race this week. In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses how these candidates might shape the race.

Also, the Republican National Committee announced the date and criteria for the first primary debate last Friday. The polling criteria are pretty notable, as there may not be that many polls that actually qualify. So is that a good or bad use of polling?

And over the weekend, President Biden signed into law a suspension of the debt ceiling through January 2025 along with some cuts to federal spending.