The Republican National Committee (RNC) voted unanimously on Thursday to ban future GOP presidential nominees from participating in debates put on by the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), the nonpartisan body that has organized general election debates since 1988. 

"The Commission on Presidential Debates is biased and has refused to enact simple and commonsense reforms to help ensure fair debates including hosting debates before voting begins and selecting moderators who have never worked for candidates on the debate stage," RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. 

The amendment to the committee's rules, which members approved at the party's spring meeting in Memphis, requires potential nominees to agree in writing to participate only in RNC-sanctioned debates or face exclusion from future debates.

"All presidential primary candidates shall also agree in writing to appear in only sanctioned Primary and General Election debates," the amendment said. "Any presidential primary candidate who does not agree in writing or who participates in any debate that is not a Sanctioned Debate shall not be eligible to participate in any further Sanctioned Debates."

The amendment includes language about a temporary committee on presidential debates that would approve and sanction debates for the RNC. 

Republicans called for reforms to the CPD in the wake of the 2020 presidential debates, when the first debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden was held after early voting had already started in some states. The committee also called on the commission to reform the way it selects moderators, citing perceived bias with those chosen to oversee 2020's debates.