这个活动显然被称为“内阁出行竞赛”。根据《大西洋月刊》上月发布的一篇报道，白宫想出了这个竞赛，而它顾名思义：白宫“鼓励”内阁部长们“走遍全国宣传[唐纳德]特朗普总统的议程”，并“追踪他们在中期选举前对政治竞争激烈的国会选区或州的访问”。文章还称，内阁成员会根据表现获得“积分”。
It’s apparently called the “Cabinet Travel Competition.”According to a report published by The Atlantic last month, the White House came up with the contest, which is exactly what it sounds like: The White House “encourages” Cabinet secretaries to “traverse the country to promote President [Donald] Trump’s agenda” and “tracks their visits to politically competitive congressional districts or states ahead of the midterm elections.”Cabinet members, the article added, are awarded “points” based on their performance.
尽管有《哈奇法》等道德法律似乎限制部长们参与此类党派性的选举季政治活动，但有充分证据表明：a）政府无论如何都在推进这一策略；b）多位部长对“内阁出行竞赛”相当认真。
Though there are ethics laws such as the Hatch Act that appear to limit secretaries from engaging in such partisan election-season politicking, there’s ample evidence that a) the administration has pushed the gambit anyway; and b) several secretaries have taken the “Cabinet Travel Competition” quite seriously.
的确，看到这么多有权势的官员——从司法部长托德·布兰奇到国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯，从卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪到财政部长斯科特·贝森特，从国土安全部长马克韦恩·马林到能源部长克里斯·赖特——让自己充当选举棋盘上的棋子，为共和党的利益被四处调动，实在令人错愕。
Indeed, it’s been quite jarring to see so many powerful officials — from Attorney General Todd Blanche to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to Energy Secretary Chris Wright — allow themselves to serve as pieces on an electoral chessboard, to be moved around for the benefit of the Republican Party.
在每一个例子中，这些部长来自两党的前任都竭力避免竞选活动，因为他们认识到，利用由纳税人资助的职位在各州之间穿梭、参加党派竞选活动，并非他们应有的本分。然而，到了2026年，一种新的常态正在形成。
In each instance, these secretaries’ predecessors from both parties went out of their way to avoid electioneering, recognizing that it was not their place to use their taxpayer-financed positions to travel from state to state, participating in partisan campaign events. And yet, in 2026, a new normal is taking shape.
就国务卿马可·卢比奥而言，他似乎更明事理。这位佛罗里达州共和党人被安排担任特朗普团队中一长串滑稽可笑的职位，他这一年一直避开“内阁出行竞赛”，也许是因为他觉得这有失体面，也许只是因为他实在挤不出时间参加竞选活动。
For his part, Secretary of State Marco Rubio appeared to know better. The Florida Republican, who has been tapped to serve in a cartoonishly long list of positions on Trump’s team, has spent the year steering clear of the “Cabinet Travel Competition,” perhaps because he saw it as unseemly, or perhaps because he simply couldn’t squeeze time into his busy schedule to appear at campaign events.
无论如何，鲁比奥在周二下午还是赚到了一些“分数”，他陪同总统前往得克萨斯州参加了几场竞选活动。他甚至在科珀斯克里斯蒂的一场集会上发表了讲话，对特朗普的拥护者们说：“能为世界上最伟大的国家效力，为美利坚合众国历史上最伟大的总统效力，是一种荣幸。”周二开始时，《政治报》报道称，鲁比奥预计不会发言。
Either way, Rubio earned some “points” on Tuesday afternoon, traveling with the president to some campaign events in Texas. He even delivered remarks at a rally in Corpus Christi, where he told Trump’s devotees, “It’s an honor to work for the greatest country in the world, for the greatest president in the history of the United States of America.”As Tuesday got underway, Politico reported that Rubio was not expected to speak.
几个小时后，要么是他改变了主意，要么是别人替他改了主意。（国务院一名官员对《国会山报》表示，鲁比奥是以白宫国家安全顾问的身份出行的，但这很难算得上令人信服的理由，因为他没有那种可以干脆假装自己不是现任国务卿的奢侈。）差不多整整六年前，时任国务卿迈克·蓬佩奥在参与了选举季的党派活动后，遭到了特别检察官办公室的调查。
Hours later, either he changed his mind, or someone changed it for him. (A State Department official told The Hill that Rubio was traveling in his capacity as White House national security adviser, though that was hardly a compelling excuse, since he doesn’t have the luxury of simply pretending he’s not the current secretary of state.) Almost exactly six years ago, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo faced an investigation from the Office of Special Counsel after engaging in election-season partisan activities.
六年后的今天，鲁比奥显然正在接续他的共和党前任未竟的事业，似乎确信自己不必担心后果。
Six years later, Rubio is apparently picking up where his Republican predecessor left off, seemingly confident that he won’t have to worry about the consequences.