President Biden addressed the ongoing civil war taking place in the House of Representatives during his address on student debt Wednesday.

Biden opened his press event with comments on eight Republicans’ decision to oust House Speaker Kevin McCarthy with the support of House Democrats.

‘The House will now reorganize and select a new speaker,’ Biden said of the development in Congress. ‘I know it’s going to take some time, but I remind everyone we have a lot of work to do. And the American people expect us to get it done.’

McCarthy angered hardliners over the weekend when he passed a short-term spending bill known as a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open for 45 days in order to avert a government shutdown and give lawmakers more time to cobble together 12 individual spending bills.

Biden acknowledged this agreement and subsequent breakdown, urging Republicans and Democrats not to let Congress force an ‘eleventh-hour decision.’

‘The argument we reached was about what comes next. But we had an agreement. We reached an agreement over the weekend. Funds for government, only another forty days,’ Biden continued. ‘We cannot and should not again be faced with an eleventh-hour decision. Brinksmanship threatens to shut down the government. And we know what we have to do. We have to get it done in a timely fashion.’

Biden expanded the scope of his critique to all of Washington — saying that US lawmakers and officials must come together despite increased tensions.

‘I join with Minority Leader Jeffries in saying that our Republican colleagues remain committed to working in a bipartisan fashion. We are prepared to do it as well — for the good of the American people,’ Biden said. ‘Twice in the last six months, both houses came together on a bipartisan basis — once to avoid default, wants to keep the government open.’

The president ended with an explicit note of gratitude towards the former speaker, saying, ‘And while we should never have been in the situation in the first place, I’m grateful that leaders on both sides came together, including former Speaker McCarthy, to do the right thing.’

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s ouster Tuesday from his role as House speaker ‘is like shambolic behavior that we’re seeing from House Republicans.’ 

Jean-Pierre delivered the criticism after being asked by a reporter if the White House is concerned about getting along with the next House speaker — whomever it may be. 

‘Again, not going to get into who’s running or who’s not running. That is, again, something for them to figure out,’ she responded. ‘The important fact is Republicans in the House, they have the majority. This is for them to figure out. This is for them to figure out how they are going to move forward. This is a situation that they have created.’ 

‘I don’t want to speak for every American across the country, but I would say a majority of Americans are sick and tired of the infighting that they’re seeing in the House right now. They want to see us work in a bipartisan way,’ she continued. ‘The president is willing to do that.’ 

TRUMP WEIGHS IN ON POSSIBLE NOMINATION FOR HOUSE SPEAKER AFTER MCCARTHY OUSTER 

‘And so that’s kind of where we are. The Republican conference that we see currently in the House, we’ve never seen that type of behavior. They stand apart from any other conference that we have seen before, whether you’re talking about the Senate or the House,’ Jean-Pierre said. ‘And so this is their creation, this chaos. If you think about it, this is like shambolic behavior that we’re seeing from House Republicans. And so they need to figure it out.’ 

Eight Republicans voted with every present Democrat on Tuesday to vacate the speaker’s chair. The final vote was 216 to 210 in favor of McCarthy’s ouster. 

MCCONNELL PRAISES OUSTED SPEAKER MCCARTHY FOR ‘THANKLESS ROLE’ IN HOUSE 

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced a measure against McCarthy known as a motion to vacate on Monday night, accusing him of breaking promises he made to win the speaker’s gavel in January. 

House Republicans plan to hold a candidate forum next Tuesday and an election the following day. 

Fox News’ Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report. 

The Russian government is tightening restrictions on access to abortion-inducing drugs.

Russia’s Ministry of Health announced Tuesday new limits on abortion drug distribution and sales at pharmacies. 

Misoprostol and mifepristone are specifically being targeted with the restrictions. The two drugs are now limited by subject-quantitative registration, according to translations from the Moscow Times. 

The restrictions will go into effect on Sep. 1, 2024 and last for exactly six years.

Health Minister Mikhail Murashko first suggested adding the two abortion drugs to the registry in July, saying they pose both medical and ethical risks for Russian women. 

Russia is currently experiencing a cultural shift in its attitudes toward abortion. Previously rather liberal on the issue, the country’s leadership and conservative communities have seized the current climate to propagate anti-abortion regulations. 

The Russian Orthodox Church — which enjoys a historically significant relationship with the nation’s politics — is also vehemently opposed to abortion on the basis of Christian morals.

Under the new restrictions, individuals seeking the drug will need to obtain a prescription from a doctor before purchasing. 

Additionally, medical providers will require a special license to provide the abortion-inducing medication to patients. 

Providers will also have to track and report their distribution of the drugs.

Nadine Arslanian Menendez, wife of recently indicted Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., struck and killed a man while driving her Mercedes-Benz in New Jersey in December 2018, according to police reports obtained by local media.

She was found not at fault for the incident because the man, identified as Richard Koop, was jaywalking when he was hit, according to the New York Times and The Record. She was not given a DUI test at the scene and was immediately allowed to leave after providing a brief statement, according to dashcam footage of her interaction with Bogota police.

Arslanian — who was alone in the vehicle — was dating Menendez at the time of the fatal crash, which reportedly left Koop’s body severely mutilated, according to the Bergen County medical examiner.

Menendez commented on the incident to reporters Wednesday.

‘It was a tragic accident, and obviously we think of the family,’ he said.

A federal indictment brought by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, which charges Arslanian and Menendez in a federal bribery scheme, revealed that in January 2019, approximately a month after the crash, Arslanian informed Wael Hana and Jose Uribe, two Egyptian-American businessmen also implicated in the alleged bribery scheme, that she no longer had a vehicle. Hana then provided her with a 2019 Mercedes-Benz — worth more than $60,000 — as detailed in the indictment.

‘In exchange, MENENDEZ agreed and sought to interfere in the NJAG’s criminal insurance fraud prosecution of an associate of URIBE and a related investigation involving an employee of URIBE,’ the indictment states.

Audio recordings from the police dashcam footage featured a man self-identifying as a retired officer from a neighboring department who mentioned that he had come to the scene as a ‘favor’ for a friend whose wife was acquainted with Arslanian.

Koop’s sister, Rosemarie Koop-Angelicola, told the Times that their family ‘has had serious concerns over what we felt was a very sparse, one-sided investigation.’

‘Definitely a lack of legal enthusiasm to take this case, definite lack of media coverage, and a lack of communication by the authorities of Bergen County. We felt that the whole thing was very silently swept under the rug,’ she said.

It’s not the first time Arslanian has been involved in a traffic incident. According to public court records, Arslanian reportedly racked up several penalties between 2007 and 2021, including using a mobile phone while driving, ignoring traffic signals and unsafe passing, adding up to about $410 total. 

Both Menendez and Arslanian have pleaded not guilty to the federal bribery charges. Fox News Digital reached out to the couple’s representatives but did not hear back by press deadline.

In June 2022, the FBI executed a search warrant at Menendez’s and his wife’s New Jersey home where federal agents discovered many of the fruits of the alleged bribery scheme, including cash, gold, a luxury convertible and home furnishings. Prosecutors say $480,000 in cash, much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets and a safe, was discovered in the home, as well as more than $70,000 in cash in Nadine’s safe-deposit box. Some of the envelopes contained the fingerprints and/or DNA of Fred Daibes, another figure in the alleged bribery scheme, or his driver, according to the indictment.

Some of the envelopes were found inside jackets bearing Menendez’s name and hanging in his closet.

The Bogota Police Department and Menendez’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., was evicted from her private Capitol office by the new speaker pro-tempore.

Fox News Digital confirmed that House Speaker pro-tempore Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., gave the order to Pelosi to vacate her Capitol hideaway by Wednesday.

McHenry is a close ally to now-former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who was ousted from his role on Tuesday.

McHenry’s eviction order was one of the congressman’s first acts as the top House lawmaker.

Pelosi was notified of the eviction, first reported by Politico, in an email.

The email said the former speaker’s hideaway was being reassigned ‘for speaker office use.’

‘Please vacate the space tomorrow, the room will be re-keyed,’ the email read.

Pelosi moved out of her hideaway on Tuesday, with help from the staff of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., according to a spokesperson for the former speaker.

Capitol hideaways are a mainstay in the Senate, but are a luxury only afforded to a select few House members.

‘With all of the important decisions that the new Republican Leadership must address, which we are all eagerly awaiting, one of the first actions taken by the new Speaker Pro Tempore was to order me to immediately vacate my office in the Capitol,’ Pelosi said in a statement.

‘Sadly, because I am in California to mourn the loss of and pay tribute to my dear friend Dianne Feinstein, I am unable to retrieve my belongings at this time,’ the former speaker continued.

‘This eviction is a sharp departure from tradition,’ Pelosi said. ‘As Speaker, I gave former Speaker [Dennis] Hastert a significantly larger suite of offices for as long as he wished.’

The former speaker said office space doesn’t matter to her, ‘but it seems to be important to them.’

‘Now that the new Republican Leadership has settled this important matter, let’s hope they get back to work on what’s truly important for the American people,’ she concluded.

Pelosi’s eviction comes after McCarthy was ousted by his seat in a motion to vacate.

Eight House Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida voted with the entirety of the House Democrats to remove McCarthy from the speakership. Pelosi did not vote because since she was in California after accompanying the late Senator Feinstein’s remains for burial.

Todd and Julie Chrisley are teaching classes in prison to reduce their sentences, including finance classes, which their daughter Savannah called ‘ironic’ given their fraud convictions. 

‘We’re continuing to utilize the system as it’s presented to us,’ she explained on her ‘Unlocked’ podcast, adding that federal sentencing guidelines going into effect in February may further reduce their sentences retroactively. 

‘We’re extremely grateful for the First Step Act because Dad’s sentence was cut down by two years and Mom by a year,’ Savannah said. ‘They could get multiple years off their sentences … and for that I’m grateful.’

The Chrisleys’ prison education program is part of the First Step Act, passed by Congress in 2018 and signed by former President Donald Trump.

Todd was originally sentenced to 12 years and Julie was sentenced to seven after being indicted in August 2019 on bank fraud and tax evasion charges. They were also ordered to complete 16 months of probation following the end of their prison terms.

Julie was convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States. She was also hit with wire fraud and obstruction of justice charges. Todd was convicted of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

Prosecutors had claimed the Chrisleys had submitted fake documents to banks when applying for loans. Julie also allegedly submitted a false credit report and fake bank statements when trying to rent a house in California. Then, the couple allegedly refused to pay rent a few months after they started using the home.

Savannah, who now has custody of her underage brother Grayson and her niece Chloe, said her ‘overachiever’ mom has taught a real estate course, and her dad has taught a trauma course and a finance class, ‘which, how ironic.’ 

The Bureau of Prisons website says Todd will be released in January 2033, two years before his original sentence was to expire, and Julie is expected to be released in October 2028, a little more than a year less than her original sentence. 

Savannah also spoke out with allegations about her parents’ liviing conditions. 

‘Regardless of what you believe someone has or has not done, no one deserves to be living in conditions like mom and dad are living in because, sure they were given a 12- and seven-year sentence, but with the conditions they’re living in, they’re really being given a life sentence,’ she said. 

She alleged that her parents have been exposed to black mold, asbestos, lead-based paint and unclean drinking water. 

‘You literally have a life sentence because of the health conditions that you’re going to be suffering from,’ she explained. 

Savannah said her mom, a cancer survivor, has had a cough for months now. 

‘In these conditions, she’s living in you can’t help but wonder is this having an effect on her,’ Savannah said.

Federal Medical Center (FMC) Lexington in Kentucky, where Julie is serving her sentence, previously provided a statement to Fox News Digital with information about the general ‘conditions of confinement’ for any adult in custody (AIC).

‘The FBOP takes seriously our ability to protect and secure individuals in our custody while ensuring the safety of our employees and the surrounding community. We make every effort to create a controlled environment within our facilities that is both secure and humane, prioritizing the physical and emotional well-being of those in our care and custody,’ it said in part. 

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As Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., has been booted from his post as House speaker after a motion to vacate brought forth by hardliner Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Calif., an unlikely nominee has been suggested as next speaker: former President Donald Trump.

Texas Rep. Troy Nehls said in a statement Tuesday afternoon his first order of business when the House reconvenes ‘will be to nominate Donald J. Trump for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.’

‘President Trump, the greatest President of my lifetime, has a proven record of putting America First and will make the House great again,’ he said.

Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., followed suit in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday evening: ‘@realDonaldTrump for Speaker.’

The next speaker does not have to be a current sitting member in the House, but every speaker in U.S. history has been.

It’s not the first time Trump has been floated as a nominee for speakership, either. In January, as McCarthy struggled to garner enough votes to secure his speakership, Gaetz cast a ballot for Trump.

In a gaggle with reporters on the Hill after the vote Tuesday, Gaetz said he’d support several members of Congress should they decide run for the post, including GOP Reps. Tom Emmer, Mike Johnson, Jodey Arrington, Kevin Hern, or Steve Scalise, none of whom voted to oust McCarthy.

House Financial Services chairman Rep. Patrick McHenry will serve as interim Speaker until a replacement for McCarthy is chosen. 

House rules dictated that McCarthy, upon his election as speaker in January, provide a secret list of members to succeed him as speaker pro tempore should the office be vacated as it was with his removal. It was revealed following the vote to oust McCarthy that McHenry was at the top of the list.

McHenry, a former media consultant and political operative, was first elected to the House to represent North Carolina’s 10th Congressional District in 2004. He was selected as the House Republican chief deputy whip in 2015 and served in the role until 2019. He was selected as chair of the House Financial Services Committee in January.

Eight Republicans sided with House Democrats on Tuesday to oust McCarthy from his role as speaker after a dramatic floor vote tallying each member’s vote by surname. 

An hour of debate was heard before members of Congress cast their votes. The vast majority of Republican lawmakers passionately spoke in favor and against McCarthy, and forced the anti-McCarthy group to speak from the Democratic side of the House floor.

McCarthy told reporters Tuesday evening he would not be running again for speakership.

Fox News’ Brandon Gillespie contributed to this report.

In his first appearance since being ousted from the House speakership, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., told reporters Tuesday night that hard-line Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., ‘are not conservatives.’

‘They voted against one of the greatest cuts in history that Congress has ever voted for, $2 trillion. They voted against work requirements. They voted against NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) reform. They voted against border security. They don’t get to say they’re conservative because they’re angry, and they’re chaotic,’ McCarthy said.

His comments came just hours after Gaetz introduced a motion to vacate McCarthy — and succeeded — with the help of hard-liners in his own party and 208 House Democrat votes. McCarthy said he would not seek to be reelected as speaker.

Hard-line conservatives and Democrats voted in sync to seal the deal on Tuesday as the vote to vacate commenced after an hour of passionate debate with McCarthy’s supporters and dissenters.

Gaetz introduced a motion to vacate on Monday night, accusing McCarthy of breaking the promises he made to win the speaker’s gavel in January. Meanwhile, Democrats condemned his ‘lack of interest in bipartisanship’ while Republicans jabbed his apparent failure to pass a government spending patch with additional border security provisions and not enough budget cuts.

‘I made a decision as speaker to keep the government open, and I put something on the floor,’ McCarthy said.

McCarthy angered hard-liners over the weekend when he passed a short-term spending bill known as a continuing resolution (CR) to keep the government open for 45 days to avert a government shutdown and give lawmakers more time to cobble together 12 individual spending bills.

Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., shocked McCarthy as she joined the seven other GOP lawmakers who voted to boot him.

‘Nancy Mace is a whole other story,’ McCarthy told reporters.

Democrats signaled early on Tuesday that they were not inclined to help McCarthy. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said before the vote, ‘Democrats are ready to find bipartisan common ground. Our extreme colleagues have shown no willingness to do the same. They must find a way to end the House Republican civil war.’

In January, it took 15 rounds of voting until McCarthy was elected as speaker.

Fox News’ Liz Elkind contributed to this report.

Lawmakers voted Tuesday to oust embattled Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., as speaker of the House of Representatives.

Such a move is the first in time in U.S. history that the top member of the House has been removed from the job. Eight Republicans sided with every Democrat in a 216-210 vote.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., introduced a measure against McCarthy known as a motion to vacate on Monday night, accusing him of breaking promises he made to win the speaker’s gavel in January. 

‘For the last eight months, Speaker McCarthy has been in breach of that agreement,’ Gaetz said Tuesday in a statement. ‘All of Speaker McCarthy’s failure theater resulted in him teaming up with Democrats to pass a continuing resolution that funds Ukraine, funds Jack Smith’s election interference against President Trump, abandons E-Verify, and does nothing to put the interests of the American people first.’

Here are the eight Republicans who broke with their party to oust McCarthy:

Rep. Andy Biggs, Arizona

During remarks on the House floor, Biggs said McCarthy’s passage of a budget resolution only further negatively impacted the national debt and immigration.

‘Until you leverage the budget and spending, you will not see enforcement by this administration,’ he said.

In a statement earlier, he said McCarthy had failed as an effective leader.

‘He has gone against many of the promises he made in January and can no longer be trusted at the helm,’ he wrote.

Rep. Ken Buck, Colorado

Buck said his vote stemmed from McCarthy’s fiscal moves he says has elevated the national debt.

‘We are $33 trillion in debt and on track to hit $50 trillion by 2030,’ he wrote on social media. ‘We cannot continue to fund the government by continuing resolutions and omnibus spending bills. That’s why I voted to oust @SpeakerMcCarthy. We must change course to sensible budgeting and save our country.’

In another statement, Buck said he initially supported McCarthy in January because he was in the best position to keep the GOP’s promises to the American people. 

‘It’s clear that we need a principled Speaker who can keep his word not just to members of Congress, but to the American people,’ he wrote. 

Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee

Burchett described McCarthy as a friend but that his vote to oust McCarthy was ‘a choice between that and my conscience.’

‘This was a tough decision. I voted for McCarthy for Speaker of the House back in January and I consider him a friend,’ he said in a statement. ‘However, I had to vote for what I think is best for the American people.’

‘We need leadership that will take real action to address our country’s serious financial crisis and steer us in a better direction, and we shouldn’t settle for anything less than that,’ he added.

Before the vote, Burchett said he was poised to remove McCarthy over the $33 trillion in debt, saying the House needed to change direction in leadership.

Rep. Eli Crane, Arizona  

Crane didn’t mention McCarthy by name but said after the vote that change was needed to overhaul the ‘ineffective and dishonest way’ Washington works.

‘I’m prepared to support a speaker who agrees,’ he said.

Earlier, he said Republicans have capitulated to Democrats to support their measures.

‘Each time our majority has had the chance to fight for bold, lasting change for the American people, leadership folded and passed measures with more Democrat support than Republican,’ he said.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida

Gaetz led the effort to remove McCarthy, who he often criticized for negotiations over the debt ceiling and other measures. 

In an interview after the vote, he called the former speaker a ‘feature of the swamp.’

‘He has risen to power by collecting special interest money and redistributing that money in exchange for favors,’ he said. ‘We are breaking the fever now.’

In a social media post, Gaetz wrote, ‘The fight is not over. Now we must elect a Speaker.’

Rep. Bob Good, Virginia

Good cited this past weekend’s continuing resolution, which kept the government open, in his remarks.

‘The American people need a Speaker who will fight to keep the promises Republicans made to get the majority, not someone who cuts fiscally irresponsible deals that get more Democrat votes than Republican votes,’ he said in a statement.

Rep. Nancy Mace, South Carolina

Mace said McCarthy had not ‘lived up to his word’ on how the House would operate.

‘There has also been no action on many issues we care about and were promised,’ the South Carolina congresswoman wrote in a statement. ‘We were promised we would move on women’s issues and legislation to keep our communities safe. Those things never happened.’

‘I came here to take difficult votes and do the right thing, regardless of the pressure and regardless of the threats (bc there’s been plenty of both),’ she added. ‘Today I’m voting against 95 percent of my party in the hopes of fixing how Congress operates.’

She said as long as McCarthy remains as House speaker ‘this chaos will continue.’

Rep. Matt Rosendale, Montana

Rosendale accused McCarthy of working against the Republican Party and supporting ‘ploys to aid the left.’

‘This demonstration of failed leadership is exactly why I plan on supporting the motion to vacate this afternoon,’ he said in a statement.

Before the vote, he told Fox News in a statement that he planned to help oust McCarthy over him working with Democrats on the debt limit deal earlier this year, not negotiating with the Senate over the National Defense Authorization Act, and pushing a continuing resolution to avert a government shutdown over the weekend.

Fox News Digital’s Elizabeth Elkind contributed to this report.

A winnowing is likely coming in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, as thresholds to qualify for the next GOP presidential nomination debate are on the rise.

But even before a likely larger percentage of the Republican White House hopefuls fail to make the stage at the November showdown in Miami, Florida, the candidates struggling to survive face a more immediate threat as crucial fundraising reports from the campaigns are due in the coming days.

Lackluster campaign cash numbers from July-September third quarter fundraising reports may prove to be the death knell for some long-shot presidential contenders, slashing the size of a still relatively large field of GOP White House candidates.

‘The third quarter report is incredibly important for all the campaigns, but certainly those who are struggling to break out right now and garner attention, this will be the last financial indicator we see until very close to Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary for these campaigns,’ longtime New Hampshire based Republican consultant Jim Merrill told Fox News.

Merrill, a veteran of numerous GOP presidential campaigns, said that ‘whether it’s making the next debate stage or just evidence in grassroots momentum for the campaign, it’s going to be really important for these campaigns to show that they not only have strong numbers of cash on hand, but also grassroots support for a growing national audience.’

Alex Castellanos, a GOP strategist with decades of experience, also pointed to the fundraising reports and predicted that ‘a lot of these candidates are going to run out of gas as they try to drive to the next debate in Miami.’

So far, only one White House hopeful has called it quits.

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez suspended his campaign after failing to make the stage at the first Republican presidential nomination debate, a Fox News-hosted Aug. 23 showdown in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, the only one of the eight candidates on the stage at the first debate who failed to qualify for Wednesday’s second debate – a FOX Business co-hosted event held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California – says if he fails to make the stage at the third GOP presidential nomination debate, he’ll consider dropping out.

‘If I don’t make that, we’ll re-evaluate where we are,’ Hutchinson told reporters this week as he referred to the third debate, which will be held Nov. 8 in Miami, Florida.

When asked for clarification if his response meant he would consider dropping out, Hutchinson answered, ‘Sure.’

Michigan businessman and quality control industry expert Perry Johnson, who failed to qualify for the first two debates, is now mulling a pivot to run for the open Senate seat in his home state.

‘Obviously, it’s no secret that I’ve had a lot of calls to run for this seat because they do want to win this seat. But at this point in time, my focus is right on the presidential [race], and, believe me, that’s taking all my time and energy at this point,’ Johnson told Fox News on Thursday.

Former Rep. Will Hurd of Texas, who previously served as an undercover agent in the CIA, also didn’t make the stage at the first two debates.

‘My team and I are constantly evaluating whether we have the resources to chart a path to victory,’ he wrote in a statement Wednesday. ‘I’m headed to New Hampshire to spread my message to the Granite State ahead of the First In the Nation primary. Educating voters on how to solve these existential issues is important, and hopefully other candidates will follow my lead.’

All eyes are also on GOP contender Larry Elder, a former nationally syndicated radio host and 2021 California gubernatorial recall election candidate, who failed to qualify for the first two debates.

Castellanos, a veteran of numerous Republican presidential campaigns, said some of the candidates will ‘soon have to take their ball and go home.’

Merrill noted, ‘It’s a really personal decision for every campaign. They each have a theory of the case. They may see a path forward and choose to pursue it.’

He also highlighted ‘that not only the media but donors and influencers are going to be watching these numbers closely.’

‘I do expect between now and Thanksgiving some hard conversations to be held among some of these candidates,’ Merrill predicted.

Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, who flirted with a 2024 run before deciding against it, has been saying for months that the field needs to shrink.

‘If you don’t make the first couple of debates, then you probably have to have a tough conversation and get out of the race,’ Sununu told Fox News over the summer.

Sununu, a vocal GOP critic of former President Donald Trump – who is the commanding frontrunner in the Republican nomination race – envisions a smaller field by the end of the year, just ahead of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, the first two contests in the Republican nominating calendar.

‘I think by the time you get to the end of December, you’ll have five or six different candidates going into Iowa, maybe three or four coming into New Hampshire,’ Sununu predicted. ‘If that’s the case, a huge opportunity for the Republican Party.’

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.