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After Jan. 6: Congress born of chaos ends in achievement

The 117th Congress opened with the unfathomable Jan. 6, 2021, mob siege of the Capitol and is closing with unprecedented federal criminal referrals of the former president over the insurrection - all while conducting one of the most consequential legislative sessions in recent memory.

Lawmakers are wrapping up the two-year session having found surprisingly common ground on big bills, despite enduring bitter political divisions that haunt the halls, and the country, after the bloody Capitol attack by supporters of the defeated president, Donald Trump, that threatened democracy.

The Congress passed monumental legislation - including a bill making one of the most substantial infrastructure investments in a generation and another federally protecting same-sex and interracial marriages.