Nearly 60 years after he was recommended for the nation’s highest military award, retired Col. Paris Davis, one of the first Black officers to lead a Special Forces team in combat, received the Medal of Honor on Friday for his bravery in the Vietnam War.

After a crowded White House ceremony, a grateful Davis emphasized the positive of the honor rather than negative of the delay, saying, “It is in the best interests of America that we do things like this.”

J.D. Vance didn’t win his Senate seat by campaigning as a dealmaker. Yet here he is, a pro-Trump Republican working with Democrats after a toxic derailment devastated his state.

Two representatives from Washington state are working together to reintroduce a bill from the 117th Congress to honor Vietnam War Veterans.

The bipartisan bill, if adopted, would award the Congressional Gold Medal to Dustoff crewmembers – the helicopter pilots, crew chiefs, and medics responsible for evacuating more than 900,000 U.S., Vietnamese, and allied forces during the nearly eleven year long period between May 1962 to March 1973.

President Joe Biden, hosting both Republican and Democratic governors for a black-tie affair at the White House, raised his glass for a toast.

Standing under a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, he told the people in the room to remember who they were. “We’re the United States of America. We can get big things done if we do it together.”

More than 1,300 miles away from the sharply partisan political gridlock of Washington, D.C. — where Democrat Maxwell Frost, 26, is making a splash as the one and only Generation Z member of Congress — politics in the Oklahoma state House looks a lot brighter to Republican Daniel Pae and his growing number of peers.

As parties are grappling with more extreme wings, some state legislatures have responded by forming centrist coalitions across the aisle. To work, however, the model requires trust.

As state Rep. Jim Gregory walks into the Pennsylvania Capitol’s cafeteria, a table of Democrats all stops talking and turns their heads. One stands up to give him a pat on the back as he passes by.

Mr. Gregory, a Republican, ruefully remarks that this reception was likely warmer than what he’d be getting from Republicans in his home district. He’s not wrong.

As I spent Christmas with my family this year, several of my normally even-keeled family members — from the political left and right — mentioned the severity of the political divide, even wondering if America would be better off splitting up. As a political activist who is surrounded by division and has seen firsthand how some politicians stoke division for their own gain, this pained me to hear. 

But there’s an issue gaining traction that may be able to bridge a small portion of that divide: the environment. 

Some 71% of Americans want Democrats and Republicans to work together. Could “the Alaska way” offer a path back toward moderation?

When Democrat Mary Sattler Peltola went looking to hire a chief of staff, she chose someone with hands-on experience and a deep knowledge of her home state, Alaska. He was also a Republican. Alex Ortiz’s last job was serving in the same role for her predecessor, Don Young, a giant in the state who died in 2022 after setting a record for longest-serving Republican congressman in United States history.

Four years ago, six Democrats and six Republicans embarked on what seemed like an impossible mission—to make Congress work better for the American people. While that may sound like a plot description for a political parody about Capitol Hill, it is a precise assessment of a little-known committee that has defied the odds in Washington and consistently produced strong bipartisan results. As the Democrat and Republican who led this successful effort, we think our committee's story is worth sharing.