The dotEDU hosts discuss how Congress is trying to clean up the mess it left behind before the holiday break on a number of bills that could affect higher education in 2022, including the Build Back Better Act, which could impact the maximum Pell Grant, other federal spending bills, and the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act. Then Michelle Deutchman, executive director of the University of California National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement returns to the podcast to talk about a range of issues related to critical race theory, academic freedom, and how presidents and campus leaders should be flexible and ready to engage.