Last week showed the diversity of challenges House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will be faced with as the leader of a five-seat Republican majority — from what to do with a swing district fabulist to the prospect of the United States defaulting on its debt. In this installment of the FiveThirtyEight Politics podcast, the crew discusses how debates on both the debt ceiling and the future of Rep. George Santos’s career might unfold. In light of new data showing union membership at its lowest point since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began counting, they also look at how that decline has shaped U.S. politics.

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