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In the most powerful example yet of Donald Trump’s MAGA-fication of the Republican Party, the Republican National Committee elected his handpicked candidates as its chair and co-chair: Michael Whatley, former leader of North Carolina’s Republican party, and Lara Trump, the ex-president’s daughter-in-law (both pictured). At the same meeting, the body also voted to recognise Mr Trump as the party’s presumptive nominee. “The RNC is going to be the vanguard of a movement that will work tirelessly, every single day to elect our nominee Donald J. Trump,” Mr Whatley said.
The Senate passed a bipartisan spending package before a midnight deadline, narrowly averting a partial federal shutdown. The set of six bills, worth $460bn, will fund energy and housing, among other things, until the end of September. Congress still needs to pass another six bills, which cover crucial areas including defence, health and education, by March 22nd to prevent closures.
Following his fiery state-of-the-union address, Joe Biden hopped back on the campaign trail, making his fourth visit this year to Pennsylvania, a critical swing state. At a rally in Delaware county, he spoke of a “future based on the core values that have defined America: honesty, decency, fairness” and drew a contrast with Mr Trump—who, he said, “sees a story of resentment, revenge, retribution”.
George Santos, who was kicked out of Congress in November, announced a bid to re-enter the House during Mr Biden’s state-of-the-union address. Mr Santos, who was expelled after being criminally charged with several misdeeds including wire fraud and identity theft, will run in the Republican primary for New York’s 1st district. He is due in court in September.
Figure of the day
2%, the level at which Jill Stein from the Green Party is polling as a presidential candidate. Read our briefing on why third-party candidates could tip the general election.
Today’s polls
Mr Trump’s good week is looking better by the day. He won 14 out of 15 primaries on Super Tuesday, finally obliging Nikki Haley, until then his last remaining competitor for the Republican nomination, to drop out. A rematch with Mr Biden in November is now all but inevitable. Judging from our daily poll-tracker, which shows an average of the latest polls, the race looks set to be tight.
�� A view from elsewhere
In the aftermath of Super Tuesday, Politiken, a Danish daily newspaper with a social-liberal political stance, published an editorial on the prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch. “That the choice is between them is a sign of a deeply calcified and eroded political system,” they wrote on March 6th. “Worst are the Republicans, who have sold their soul and proud conservative heritage to a charlatan.”
Daily quiz
From Monday to Thursday we’ll quiz you on American politics. The weekly winner, chosen at random, will be announced here on Fridays. This week’s winner is William Potter from Indialantic in Florida. The answers were:
Monday: Six states have more Senators than House representatives: Alaska, Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming.
Tuesday: 1% of the US federal Budget goes on foreign aid.
Wednesday: 21% of the US federal Budget goes on Social Security.
Thursday: Ten is the smallest number of states needed to make up a majority of the US population: California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan have 170m residents, compared with the national total of 334m. These ten states have just a fifth of the seats in the Senate.
If you enjoyed this week’s quiz, play Dateline, The Economist’s new history game.
Read all of our recent coverage of the 2024 election. Confused about a term? Check out our A-Z of American politics.
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