The Senate on Thursday voted to approve a one-time exemption to the filibuster on raising the debt ceiling, capping off a months-long fight over the nation’s borrowing limit. Earlier in the week, the House overwhelmingly passed a compromise version of the FY 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, amid a push to get the measure to President Biden’s desk.

As the holidays near and Democrats feel an increased sense of urgency to get their climate and social spending bill across the finish line, while Americans continue to worry about surging consumer prices, Public Strategies’ Howard Schweitzer, Patrick Martin, Towner French, and Kaitlyn Martin discuss Congress’ jam-packed December to-do list and remember Bob Dole, the iconic Republican senator who served the country in war and in politics with pragmatism, self-deprecating wit, and a bygone era's sense of common civility and compromise.