当众议院共和党人在9月中旬突然宣布让议员们提前回家、放弃繁忙的9月计划时，人们还不确定共和党领导人究竟为何想少做工作。没过多久，国会山的观察人士就找到了答案。
When House Republicans made a surprise announcement in mid-September, sending members home early and abandoning plans for a busy September, there was uncertainty about why, exactly, GOP leaders wanted to do even less work. It wasn’t long before Capitol Hill observers settled on an answer.
肯塔基州共和党众议员托马斯·马西准备在9月17日强行就弹劾国防部长皮特·赫格塞思进行投票——而且从各方面来看，这项措施很可能获得相当数量的两党支持票，这将在选举周期还剩七周之际，令本已处境艰难的这位五角大楼负责人、白宫以及共和党自身深感难堪。
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky was poised to force a vote on Sept. 17 on impeaching Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth— and by all accounts, the measure was likely to generate a fair number of bipartisan votes, which would have been deeply embarrassing to the beleaguered Pentagon chief, the White House and the party itself with seven weeks remaining in the election cycle.
于是，众议院议长迈克·约翰逊告知议员们，他们在选举前的最后一个工作日将是9月16日。
And so House Speaker Mike Johnson let members know their last pre-election workday would be Sept. 16.
此举成功地把问题拖延了下去，尽管距离选举日仅剩一周，国会已经几乎追上了那个被拖延的节点。
The move successfully kicked the can down the road, although with Election Day just a week away, Congress has very nearly caught up to that can.
据《点名》报报道，一份弹劾国防部长的众议院决议草案的起草人周一表示，他计划在11月9日那一周强行就该措施进行投票。
Roll Call reported The author of a draft House resolution to impeach the Defense secretary said Monday he plans to force a vote on the measure the week of Nov. 9.
肯塔基州共和党众议员托马斯·马西在接受电话采访时说，弹劾皮特·赫格塞思的决议是众议院跛脚鸭会期的“第一周”议题。
The Pete Hegseth impeachment resolution is a “week one” issue for the House lame-duck session, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said in a phone interview.
在很长一段时间里，随着政治界的焦点转向中期选举，跛脚鸭会期似乎还在遥远的地平线上。如今情况已不再如此：议员们将在两周后——即选举日之后的那一周——返回国会山，而他们复工时会发现，弹劾赫格塞思的决议正等着他们。
For a long while, as the political world turned its focus to the midterm elections, the lame-duck session appeared to be on some faraway horizon. That’s no longer the case: Members will return to Capitol Hill in two weeks — the week after Election Day — and they’ll find the Hegseth impeachment resolution waiting for them as they get back to work.
“我认为它通过的可能性超过50%，”在5月共和党初选中落败的马西对《点名》报表示。“所有民主党人都会投票支持它吗？我认为答案是肯定的。那么第二个问题是，我能争取到一小部分共和党人吗？我认为在跛脚鸭会期，他们可能比竞选结束前更倾向于投票支持它。”
“I give it better than a 50% chance of passing,” Massie, who was defeated in a GOP primary in May, told Roll Call. “Will all the Democrats vote for it? I think the answer to that is yes. And then the second question is, do I get a handful of Republicans? And I think they’re probably more inclined in the lame-duck session to vote for it than they were before their campaigns were over.”
我们很快就会知道投票结果如何，但与此同时，值得记住的是，在下一届国会中，如果民主党占多数，赫格塞思应该为激烈的反击做好准备。就在周六，众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯——如果民主党下周表现良好，他很可能成为下一任众议院议长——对MS NOW表示：“皮特·赫格塞思需要被总统推开，否则如果他未被推开，我们将不得不处理那种局面。”
We’ll learn soon enough how that vote turns out, but in the meantime, it’s worth keeping in mind that in the next Congress, if there’s a Democratic majority, Hegseth should prepare himself for fierce pushback. As recently as Saturday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the likely next House speaker should Democrats fare well next week, told MS NOW“Pete Hegseth needs to be pushed aside by the president, or we’re going to have to deal with that situation if he is not.”
一天前，《华尔街日报》报道称：“众议院民主党人正将政治目光投向国防部长皮特·赫格塞思，推动弹劾他，以此作为预期中期选举胜利后的第一份战利品。”
A day earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported“House Democrats are setting their political sights on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, pushing for his impeachment as the first spoils from anticipated wins in the midterm election.”
杰弗里斯发表评论的第二天，科罗拉多州民主党众议员杰森·克劳——武装部队委员会成员、功勋退伍军人——出现在哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的《面对全国》节目中，并表示：“皮特·赫格塞思仍然无能，没有做保护我们军人所必需的事情，这就是为什么如果我们重新夺回多数席位，他是我第一优先事项，确保我们把他赶出五角大楼，因为我们的军人实际上应该得到有能力的、严肃的、真正的领导，能够保护他们并做正确的事情。”
在美国历史的大部分时间里，只有一位内阁部长曾被弹劾：1876年，众议院以涉嫌贿赂为由弹劾了战争部长威廉·贝尔纳普——在他离任之后。
The day after Jeffries’ comments, Democratic Rep. Jason Crow of Colorado, a member of the Armed Services Committee and a decorated military veteran, appeared on CBS News’s “Face the Nation”
（他后来被参议员们宣告无罪。）将近三年前，贝尔纳普多了一个小伙伴：众议院共和党人弹劾了时任国土安全部长亚历杭德罗·马约卡斯，尽管他们并未发现这位国土安全部长有任何值得弹劾的行为证据。（参议院驳回了这一努力，连审判都懒得进行。）赫格塞思会加入这个小圈子吗？请关注后续。
and said“Pete Hegseth remains incompetent and is not doing what’s necessary to protect our service members, which is why he’s my priority No. 1 if we retake the majority, to make sure we oust him from the Pentagon, because our service members actually deserve competent, serious, real leadership that will protect them and do the right thing.”For most of American history, only one Cabinet secretary has ever been impeached: In 1876, the House impeached Secretary of War William Belknap — after he left office — over alleged bribes. (He was later acquitted by senators.) Nearly three years ago, Belknap got a little company: House Republicans impeached then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas despite having uncovered no evidence the DHS secretary had done anything to merit impeachment. (The Senate dismissed the effort and didn’t bother with a trial.) Will Hegseth join this tiny club? Watch this space.
《对皮特·赫格塞思的弹劾投票即将到来——而且很可能不会是最后一次》一文发表于MS NOW
The post Vote on Pete Hegseth’s impeachment is on the way — and it probably won’t be the last MS NOW