Christmas comes to Capitol Hill, even as omicron makes its way there too

Every year, as the holiday season descends on Washington, a beautiful mural emerges in an obscure, basement hallway of the Capitol.

Mask-wearing seemed slightly lax at the Capitol of late. But now masks dramatically reappeared among those who work here. Christmas at the Capitol has always been dismal. In recent years, Congress has toiled through the holidays — often addressing some of the most consequential subjects facing the nation: Impeachment, a lengthy government shutdown, a transformational tax bill, Obamacare, the fiscal cliff, a defense bill. Such holiday sessions have almost become the norm, ruining Christmas and New Year’s for many who work at the Capitol. After all, this is Capitol Hill. It ain’t Santa Claus, Ind., or North Pole, Alaska.

Most thought Congress would meet through the holidays this year as Democrats attempted to pass the social spending bill. There were flirtations with a government shutdown and the debt limit. But that was all put to bed last week — despite the internecine warfare now between some liberal Democrats and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.