民主党人渴望在夺回国会控制权后重新获得传票权，但他们在究竟要有多严厉地追究美国企业责任的问题上存在分歧。该党在“对唐纳德·特朗普政府进行强硬监督”这一理念上保持一致，这也将有助于他们在2028年大选前的宣传策略。然而，民主党人对于如何激烈地运用调查权来追究过去两年中曾与白宫勾结的企业、律师事务所和大学，却意见不一。
Democrats are eager to win back subpoena power if they retake Congress, but they’re split on how hard they’ll go after corporate America. The party is united by the idea of aggressive oversight of President Donald Trump’s administration, which will help shape their messaging in the run-up to the 2028 election. But Democrats are at odds over how fiercely to use their probing power to go after the corporations, law firms and universities that courted the White House over the past two years.
金融服务委员会资深成员、众议员比尔·福斯特表示：“我们不想变成一个‘香蕉共和国’——一旦输掉选举，一切都沦为报复。”他补充道：“我们必须明智地区分哪些公司只是为了在这种前所未有的腐败程度下生存而不得不采取某些行动，以及哪些公司真正参与其中，并因成为其腐败的共谋者而获利更多。”一些进步派人士则反驳称，采取克制态度将难以取悦该党的基本盘。
“We don’t want to turn into a banana republic where you lose an election and it’s all about retribution,” Rep. Bill Foster, a senior member of the Financial Services Committee, said. “We’re going to have to be a little bit wise about when companies simply did something they had to do to survive this unprecedented level of corruption, compared to companies that actually got on board and profited more by being a partner in his corruption,” he added. Some progressives counter that a restrained approach would sit uneasily with the party’s base.
自由派非营利组织“要求进步”（Demand Progress）的企业权力政策顾问埃拉·范格表示：“如果民主党人一边以打击腐败为竞选口号，一边却对那些助长腐败的企业网开一面，那将是政治上的自杀行为。”一些民主党人的主要目标，是那些为取悦总统而采取行动的科技公司，例如苹果、亚马逊和Meta，这些公司都曾向特朗普的“舞厅行动”（ballroom effort）捐款。
“It would be political suicide for Democrats to campaign on fighting corruption and then turn around and go easy on the very companies that are facilitating it,” said Ella Fanger, corporate power policy adviser at the liberal nonprofit group Demand Progress. Prime targets for some Democrats are the tech companies that have taken steps to be on the president’s good side, like Apple, Amazon and Meta, which have all donated to Trump’s ballroom effort.
包括Coinbase、Ripple和Tether在内的主要加密货币企业也参与了该行动，并将面临民主党的质询。已故的性犯罪罪犯杰弗里·爱泼斯坦的社交网络及关联人物也将面临调查——此前，这类调查已牵连到摩根大通、德意志银行和美国银行等大型银行。参议员克里斯·墨菲表示，该党应聚焦于特朗普与企业腐败之间的关联。
Major cryptocurrency players, including Coinbase, Ripple and Tether also chipped in for the ballroom, and will be subject to questioning from Democrats. The late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s networks and associates are also poised for probes — a push that has ensnared big banks like JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank and Bank of America in the past. Sen. Chris Murphy said the party should focus on the nexus between Trump and corporate corruption.
“我们应该彻底查清这个国家的企业与特朗普政府之间存在的腐败关系，”墨菲说道，并提到了他此前就一家烟草公司在新的电子烟法规出台前向特朗普超级政治行动委员会捐款一事提出的质疑。然而，参议院银行委员会成员凯瑟琳·科特兹·马斯托参议员则警告不要将权力武器化。“我们的重点应该是解决当前正在发生的问题，”她说，并指出了医疗、住房和能源领域的生活成本问题。
“We should get to the bottom of the corrupt relationship that exists between corporations in this country and the Trump administration,” Murphy said, pointing to questions he’s posed about a tobacco company’s donation to Trump’s super PAC before new e-cigarette rules were unveiled. Still, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, who serves on Senate Banking, warned against the weaponization of power. “Our focus should be solving problems that we’re seeing happening,” she said, pointing to cost-of-living issues around health care, housing and energy.
其他我们关注的动态：——首个“建设美国”党团会议议程——在本届国会期间，由于许可和住房立法取得进展，一个以发展为重点的跨党派党团会议正推出一项详细的下一届国会议程。由40名成员组成的“建设美国”党团会议将发布一份95页的提案文件（最初与《政治》杂志分享），其中概述了涉及医疗、交通、儿童保育和研究的计划。
What else we’re watching: — FIRST IN IC: BUILD AMERICA CAUCUS AGENDA — Energized by progress on permitting and housing legislation this term, a bipartisan development-focused caucus is rolling out a detailed agenda for next term. The 40-member Build America Caucus is releasing a 95-page package of proposals, first shared with POLITICO, that outlines plans touching on health care, transportation, child care and research.
该团体于去年成立，旨在削减繁文缛节和监管障碍，以推动发展。——克鲁兹和坎特韦尔在人工智能合作方面仍前路漫漫——商务委员会主席泰德·克鲁兹和委员会主要少数派成员玛丽亚·坎特韦尔或许仍在庆祝上周参议院通过他们具有里程碑意义的大学体育法案，但尚不清楚这一势头能否延续到另一项委员会优先事项——人工智能——的协议上。
The group launched last year with the goal of cutting red tape and regulatory bottlenecks to spur development. — AI COLLAB STILL ILLUSIVE FOR CRUZ, CANTWELL — Commerce Chair Ted Cruz and ranking member Maria Cantwell might still be celebrating Senate passage of their landmark college sports bill last week, but it’s unclear the momentum will carry forward to agreement on another committee priority: artificial intelligence.
在与《政治》杂志交谈的十几位议员、助理和行业专家中，很少有人认为这两位参议员在取得共同胜利后，会放弃他们根深蒂固的意识形态和行事风格。这可能会使他们无法在像人工智能监管框架这样复杂且充满争议的问题上复制最近的成功。贾斯珀·古德曼、凯瑟琳·哈普古德、赖利·罗杰森和凯尔西·布鲁格参与了本报道的撰写。
Among the dozen lawmakers, aides and industry experts who spoke to POLITICO, few expect the two senators to shed their well-established ideologies and styles after the mutual win. That could doom their ability to replicate their latest achievement in something as complex and divisive as an AI regulatory framework.