Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance and Democratic vice presidential nominee Gov. Tim Walz will meet Tuesday for their first and only debate, hosted by CBS News at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York .
THE Vice President’s Debate begins at 9 p.m. ET and will be hosted by Norah O’Donnell, anchor and editor of “CBS Evening News,” and Margaret Brennan, moderator of “Face the Nation” and chief foreign affairs correspondent.
Here are the rules of the debate, as laid out by CBS News:
How will the vice presidential debate begin and who will be held where?
Walz will stand behind the podium on stage left, which is the right side from the moderators’ perspective and on screen. Vance’s podium will be on the opposite side. Walz and Vance must remain behind their podiums for the duration of the debate. They will be introduced by moderators starting with the incumbent party candidate, meaning Walz will be introduced first.
Will there be opening statements?
There will be no opening statements.
How long will the VP debate last?
There will be 90 minutes of debate, starting at 9 p.m. ET, with two breaks of four minutes each.
Will there be an audience?
Like the debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia, there will be no studio audience.
How much time will candidates have to answer the questions?
For each question, the candidate to whom the question was asked will have two minutes to respond, and the other candidate will have two minutes to respond. Then, each candidate will have one minute for additional rebuttals. And moderators may, at their discretion, grant candidates an additional minute each to pursue a topic.
Lights in front of each candidate will indicate how much time they have left to speak. The candidates will also each have a countdown timer.
Moderators will be seated and will be the only ones in the room allowed to ask questions.
Final declarations
At the end, candidates will each have two minutes for their closing statements. A draw was held on September 26 to allow the winner to choose the order of the final declarations. Vance won the toss and chose to go second, so he will have the last laugh.
Will the microphones be muted while the other candidate is speaking?
CBS News reserves the right to mute the candidates’ microphones, but otherwise they’ll be hot.
Will candidates receive questions in advance?
Candidates will not receive any questions in advance, nor any topics in advance.
Additionally, campaign staffers are not allowed to interact with Walz and Vance during breaks. And contestants are not allowed to have any props or pre-written notes on stage. They will receive a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water.
CBS News will host the only scheduled vice presidential debate between Vance and Walz on Tuesday, October 1 at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and CBS News 24/7. Download the free CBS News app for live coverage, post-debate analysis, comprehensive fact-checks and more.
