参议院周三晚休会，进入中期选举阶段，尽管手头积压了大量未完成的立法事务。此时，处境脆弱的共和党参议员们急于返回各自家乡展开竞选活动，因为党内越来越担心他们可能失去在上院的多数席位。参议员们在投票确认基思·桑德林——特朗普总统提名的劳工部长人选——之后宣布休会。他们离开华盛顿前，未就三项《国会审查法》决议采取行动，这些决议旨在豁免加州的一些法规，部分共和党人原本希望在长休前推动通过。
The Senate adjourned for the midterm election on Wednesday night despite having a big pile of unfinished business on its plate, as vulnerable Republicans were ready to get back to their home states to campaign amid growing fears that they may lose their majority in the upper chamber. Senators adjourned after voting to confirm Keith Sonderling, President Trump’s nominee to serve as secretary of the Labor Department. They left Washington without acting on three Congressional Review Act resolutions to waive California regulations that some Republicans wanted to pass before the extended recess.
参议员们预计要到11月9日那一周才会返回国会大厦，这使得许多首要立法事项在11月3日选举前陷入停滞。这些事项包括许可制度改革、年度国防授权法案、延长已失效的《外国情报监视法》监控授权，以及其他备受关注的议题。“这让我很痛心。这是糟糕的规划。我们本应在[去年7月]通过‘一项大而美的法案’之后就开始规划，想清楚我们要做什么、怎么去完成，”参议员约翰·肯尼迪（路易斯安那州共和党人）在谈到参议院休会时如此表示。
Senators aren’t scheduled to return to the Capitol until the week of Nov. 9, leaving many top priorities in limbo until after the Nov. 3 election. Those priorities include permitting reform, the annual defense authorization bill, the extension of expired surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and other high-profile items. “It breaks my heart. It’s bad planning. We should have started after we passed One Big Beautiful Bill [in July of last year], planning what we wanted to do and how we were going to get it done,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said of the Senate adjourning.
肯尼迪还警告说，未能完成与加州相关的监管豁免《国会审查法》决议，将加剧11月和12月的立法拥堵。但处境脆弱的共和党参议员，如丹·沙利文（阿拉斯加州）、罗杰·马歇尔（堪萨斯州）和皮特·里基茨（内布拉斯加州），都急于重返竞选活动。缅因州共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯也是如此，她是民主党另一个重点攻击目标，原本希望能在选举前就她提出的两党法案进行投票，该法案旨在将胰岛素每月自付费用上限设定为35美元。柯林斯承认，周三晚离开国会大厦时，她面前还有在缅因州忙碌一个月的竞选活动。
Kennedy also warned the failure to finish up the Congressional Review Act resolutions on California-related regulatory waivers would add to the logjam in November and December. But vulnerable Republican senators, such as Sens. Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Roger Marshall (Kan.) and Pete Ricketts (Neb.), are eager to get back on the campaign trail. So is Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), another top Democratic target, who was hoping to get a vote on her bipartisan bill to cap the monthly out-of-pocket cost of insulin at $35 before the election. Collins acknowledged she had a busy month of campaigning in Maine ahead of her as she left the Capitol late Wednesday.
参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩（共和党，南达科他州）明确表示，他认为共和党同僚们最好尽快回到各自的选区，向选民证明他们值得在华盛顿再任职六年，这对他们自己更有利。在民主党方面，参议员乔恩·奥索夫（民主党）在佐治亚州的选情竞争激烈，尽管两党的策略专家都认为他正在拉开与共和党挑战者、众议员迈克·柯林斯的差距。
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) has made it clear that he thinks his GOP colleagues can help themselves by getting back to their home states as soon as possible to make the argument to voters that they deserve six more years in Washington. On the Democratic side, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D) has a competitive race in Georgia, though strategists in both parties think he’s pulling away from the Republican challenger, Rep. Mike Collins.
“我认为每个人都对自己的选情感到紧张，”肯尼迪说，“这是奇怪的一年。我不知道这些事情最终会如何发展。”他补充道：“我在自己的州做过民调，那是一个相当红的州，但整个政治光谱上的民众都感到非常不安。”艾默生学院民调上周发布的一项调查显示，民主党在国会选举的通用选票中领先11个百分点。这项于9月21日至22日对1000名可能选民进行的调查显示，民主党的支持率为53%，共和党的支持率为42%。
“I think everybody’s nervous about their races,” Kennedy said. “It’s a weird year. I don’t know how these things are going to turn out." “I’ve done polling in my own state, and it’s a pretty red state, but people all across the political spectrum are very unsettled,” he added. An Emerson College Polling survey released last week showed Democrats with an 11-point lead on the generic congressional ballot. The survey of 1,000 likely voters conducted from Sept. 21-22 showed Democrats with 53 percent support and Republicans with 42 percent support.
肯尼迪指出，要说服共和党领导人让参议员们本周回到华盛顿，就参议员乔恩·哈斯特（共和党，俄亥俄州）和里基茨分别发起的两项法案——《纳税人保护法案》和《停止内幕交易法案》——进行投票，是一场艰苦的斗争。“我们必须大费周章才能让哈斯特参议员的法案进行投票，”肯尼迪说。哈斯特的法案将要求各州考虑新的标准，以保护纳税人免于承担为适应数据中心而升级能源和水利基础设施的成本，而里基茨的法案将禁止国会议员购买新的公开交易股票。
Kennedy noted it was a struggle to convince GOP leaders just to bring senators back to Washington this week to vote on two bills sponsored by Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and Ricketts — the Ratepayer Protection Act and the Stop Insider Trading Act, respectively. “We had to raise fresh hell just to get a vote on Sen. Husted’s bill,” Kennedy said. Husted’s bill would ask states to consider new standards to shield taxpayers from paying the costs of upgrading energy and water infrastructure to accommodate data centers while Ricketts’s bill would have banned members of Congress from buying new publicly traded stocks.
周三，民主党人以党派投票方式否决了这两项措施。当参议院于11月复会时，共和党人计划就参议院能源和自然资源委员会主席迈克·李（共和党，犹他州）和参议员谢尔顿·怀特豪斯（民主党，罗德岛州）宣布的一项许可改革协议进行投票。参议员们本可以留在华盛顿完成该协议的起草，并可能在10月份进行投票。
Democrats blocked both measures by party-line votes on Wednesday. When the Senate reconvenes in November, Republicans plan to tee up a vote on a permitting reform deal announced by Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chair Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). Senators could have stayed in town to finish drafting the deal and possibly voted on it in October.
这或许让他们有机会向选民们炫耀自己的“重大成就”，但他们决定接下来的几周应该多花时间与家乡的选民直接交流。北卡罗来纳州的共和党参议员汤姆·蒂利斯（Tom Tillis）表示，在选举日临近的情况下，那些面临激烈竞争的参议员们都希望尽快离开华盛顿。“我认为我们最终会遭遇失利；选举结果可能不会像之前那样理想，两党之间的差距也会变得更小，”他说。
That may have allowed them to tout a major accomplishment to constituents, but they decided the next few weeks would be better spent talking to voters at home. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said senators in tough races wanted to get out of town as soon as possible with Election Day fast approaching. “I think we’ll have a net loss. I think it’s unlikely we’d have the same numbers. The margins will be thinner,” he said.
他预测，如果共和党候选人能在选举最后阶段发挥好作用，那么他们在参议院的失利幅度应该还是“可以控制的”。蒂利斯警告说，让那些处境不利的在任参议员继续留在华盛顿会带来高昂的政治代价：“每次他们留在华盛顿，要么就是无法举办筹款活动，要么就是无法参加与选民的交流会。我们必须让他们回到各自所在的州去。”
He predicted that Senate Republican losses will be “manageable” if “we let candidates execute down the stretch.”Tillis warned that keeping vulnerable incumbent senators in Washington comes at a high political cost. “Every time you’re here, it’s a fundraiser you can’t host or it’s a town hall you can’t speak at. We need to get them back in the state. Invariably, the people who want to stick here, they all have one thing in common: They’re not up [for reelection] this cycle,” he said.
他还指出：“那些选择留在华盛顿的参议员都有一个共同点：他们这次都没有机会连任。”共和党人表示，完成11月和12月堆积如山的未完成工作将是一项艰巨的任务。在完成了对索尼德林（Sonderling）的任命确认程序以及讨论了相关许可改革法案之后，对于接下来该做什么，参议院内部几乎没有共识。参议院农业委员会主席约翰·布斯曼（John Boozman）敦促参议院在圣诞节前完成这项长期被搁置的农业法案的审议工作；他说：“多数党领袖是我们委员会中最积极推动这项工作的成员之一，他决心一定要完成这项法案。”
Republicans say that getting through the pile of unfinished work awaiting them in November and December will be a daunting task. After planned votes to confirm Sonderling and take up the permitting reform bill, there’s little consensus on what comes next. Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Ark.) is pushing for the Senate to finish the long-stalled farm bill before Christmas. “The majority leader is one of our most active members on the committee, and he’s committed to getting it done,” Boozman said of the farm bill. “The farm bill’s a priority.”
与此同时，参议院军事委员会主席罗杰·威克（Roger Wicker）希望将《国家国防授权法案》以及紧急国防开支补充方案列为最优先处理的议题。参议院情报委员会则希望尽快通过延长《外国情报监视法》（FISA）第702条所赋予的监视权力的相关立法；此外，还有12项年度拨款法案也需要尽快得到审议。政府的资金支持将于12月11日到期。
Meanwhile, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) wants to make both the annual National Defense Authorization Act and an emergency supplemental defense spending package top priorities. The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee want to take up legislation extending the expanded surveillance authorities under Section 702 of FISA that lapsed in June. Also in the mix are the 12 annual appropriations bills. Government funding is due to expire on Dec. 11.
这为避免感恩节后政府再次停摆而启动了一场高风险的谈判。参议院预算委员会主席罗恩·约翰逊（共和党，威斯康星州）正在推动在“跛脚鸭”（即任期即将结束的国会时期）内进行一系列长时间的投票，以启动第三份预算协调方案的审议流程。他说：“这正是我接下来要努力的方向。”约翰逊表示，他与众议院预算委员会主席乔迪·阿灵顿（共和党，德克萨斯州）密切合作，为选举后的预算协调方案制定好了基础。
That sets up a high-stakes negotiation to avoid another government shutdown after Thanksgiving. Senate Budget Committee Chair Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is pushing for a marathon series of votes on a budget resolution in the lame-duck to unlock the process for moving a third budget reconciliation package. “That’s where I’ll be working at,” he said. Johnson said he’s worked closely with House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) to lay the groundwork for moving a budget reconciliation package after the election.
对初步预算决议的讨论和投票，以及后续协调方案的审议，很可能会占用参议院数周的时间。一些共和党人可能还会坚持要求在11月或12月对那三项《国会审查法案》进行投票（这些法案原本被列入了本周的议程）。由于优先事项众多、日程安排紧张，共和党人对在“跛脚鸭”会议期间能取得实质性进展持怀疑态度。当被问及是否将太多议题推迟到11月或12月处理时，参议员约翰·科宁（共和党，德克萨斯州）开玩笑说：“这将会是我们的‘黄金时代’。”
Debating and voting on the preliminary budget resolution and then tackling a follow-up reconciliation package could easily consume a couple weeks of the Senate’s schedule. Some Republicans may also insist on voting on the three Congressional Review Act resolutions — which were tentatively on the agenda for this week — in November or December. The impending traffic jam of priorities has Republicans skeptical about getting much done at all in the lame-duck session. “It’s going to be our golden era,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) quipped when asked if Republicans were punting too many items into November and December.
参议院11月仅有8天的正常会议时间，12月则有14天（包括周五，但周五通常不是参议院的工作日）。周三下午，参议院以53票对47票的结果按党派立场通过了任命桑德林为劳工部部长的议案。大约10小时后，参议员们疲惫地回到国会大厦，对这位提名人的任命进行最终确认投票；在民主党同意缩短辩论时间后，桑德林最终以47票对41票的结果获得了通过。
The Senate is scheduled to be in regular session only eight days in November and 14 days in December — counting Fridays, which aren’t typically workdays in the upper chamber. The Senate voted 53-47 along party lines Wednesday afternoon to advance Sonderling’s nomination to head the Labor Department. About 10 hours later, weary senators returned to the Capitol for a final confirmation vote on the nominee after Democrats agreed to shorten the debate time on the floor. Sonderling was confirmed shortly before midnight by a vote of 47 to 41.
周三晚上，共和党和民主党参议员就是否需要一致同意才能推进那些跨党派的法案展开了争论。罗恩·约翰逊参议员对某些参议员提出的要求表示反对……帕蒂·默里（民主党，华盛顿州）和杰夫·默克利（民主党，俄勒冈州）共同推动通过了一项法案，旨在消除政府擅自撤销已拨付资金的行为。此前，特朗普政府曾要求取消国会批准的近10亿美元资金。
Republican and Democratic senators spent part of Wednesday evening battling over requests for unanimous consent to advance bipartisan bills. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) objected to a request by Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) to pass a bill to eliminate pocket rescissions after the Trump administration advanced a request last week to cancel nearly $1 billion in funding already appropriated by Congress. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Utah) objected to a request by Sens.
参议员兰德·保罗（共和党，犹他州）反对理查德·布卢门撒尔（民主党，康涅狄格州）和玛莎·布莱克本（共和党，田纳西州）提出的议案——该议案旨在通过全体参议员的一致同意来通过《儿童在线安全法案》，以保护使用社交媒体的未成年人。
Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) to pass by unanimous consent the Kids Online Safety Act, which is designed to protect minors who use social media platforms.