One proposal being weighed by the RNC members would involve sanctioning a small handful of debates while penalizing candidates who participate in any nonsanctioned GOP debate by stripping them of one-third of their delegates to the national convention.
There is also a "heavy appetite" to have a say over which journalists should be allowed to moderate the debates, said one Republican familiar with the ongoing discussions.
"There is a definitely a consensus for Reince's objective to have less debates and have control over how and who we have run our debates, rather than just turning it over to X, Y or Z network and having a guy moderate who's going to just dog you for two hours," said the Republican, who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive and not-yet-finalized rules changes.
Calendar changes approved by the subcommittee must then be ratified by the RNC's Standing Committee on Rules, a vote that could take place as early as January at the RNC's winter meeting in Washington. If approved by the rules committee, the full 168-member RNC must vote on the calendar changes sometime before next summer.