南卡罗来纳州默特尔比奇 — 前众议院议长凯文·麦卡锡虽然已离开国会，但他仍在幕后运作。
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy may be out of Congress, but he’s still playing the inside game.
《华盛顿太阳报》获悉，麦卡锡正担任众议院司法委员会主席吉姆·乔丹的关键顾问，协助后者争取下届国会共和党最高领导职位。
McCarthy is working as a key advisor to House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan as Jordan potentially seeks the top Republican leadership role in the next Congress, The Washington Sun has learned.
这对昔日政敌在加州共和党人麦卡锡职业生涯的最后一年成为了亲密盟友。2023年1月麦卡锡竞选议长时，乔丹是关键合作伙伴，帮助说服部分保守派异议者投下支持票。
Onetime foes, McCarthy and Jordan became close allies in the final year of the California Republican’s career. As McCarthy sought the speaker’s gavel in January 2023, Jordan was a key partner in helping win over some of the conservative holdouts.
2023年秋季麦卡锡被罢免议长职务后，他回报恩情，助力乔丹竞选议长。那次努力以失败告终，麦卡锡于当年12月辞去众议员职务。但如今，这对搭档重聚，正在谋划如何提升乔丹明年领导共和党党团的机会。
After McCarthy was ousted from the post in the fall of 2023, he returned the favor by helping Jordan in his bid for the speakership. That effort failed and McCarthy resigned from the House that December. But now, the duo is back, strategizing about how to boost Jordan’s chances of leading the Republicans conference next year.
知情人士透露，麦卡锡与乔丹经常通话，麦卡锡一直在就如何为领导层竞选做好定位向乔丹提供建议。一位熟悉他们谈话内容的消息人士表示，乔丹曾寻求麦卡锡的意见，并证实两人讨论了乔丹潜在领导层竞选的轮廓。麦卡锡拒绝了《华盛顿太阳报》的置评请求。
McCarthy and Jordan talk often, sources close to both say, and McCarthy has been advising Jordan on how to best position himself for a leadership bid. A source familiar with their conversations said Jordan has sought McCarthy’s counsel and confirmed the two have discussed the contours of Jordan’s potential leadership race. McCarthy declined The Washington Sun’s request to comment.
共和党高层领袖正在全国各地奔走竞选，力争守住在众议院微弱的多数优势；但如果失去多数，《太阳报》此前报道，乔丹预计将竞选少数党领袖。这很可能会让他与现任众议院议长迈克·约翰逊，以及麦卡锡的长期对手、前任“二把手”众议院多数党领袖史蒂夫·斯卡利斯展开角逐。
Top Republican leaders are campaigning across the country to hold on to their narrow House majority, but in the event they lose it, Jordan is expected to run for minority leader, The Sun has previously reported. This would probably pit him against current House Speaker Mike Johnson and McCarthy’s longtime rival and former second-in-command, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
前议长曾批评约翰逊处理工作的方式，并公开预测他的政党将在中期选举中失去对众议院的控制权。消息人士指出，麦卡锡对众议院共和党领导层的讽刺是他在协助乔丹的微妙迹象。麦卡锡将约翰逊让众议院长时间休会的决定斥为错误，并表示领导层未能成功为候选人提供一个可以在选区吹嘘的平台。
The former speaker has criticised Johnson over his handling of the job, and openly predicted his party would lose control of the House in the midterms. Sources point to McCarthy’s jabs at House Republican leadership as subtle indicators that he’s working to assist Jordan. McCarthy cast Johnson’s decision to keep the House out of session over extended periods of time as a mistake, and he suggested leadership was unsuccessful in giving candidates a platform to boast about in their districts.
“在众议院，他们开会的天数最少。……他们让民主党主导了局面，”麦卡锡上周对彭博电视表示。“你必须给选民一个投票的理由。如果共和党赢得多数席位，将做哪三件事？我无法告诉你那是什么。”一位麦卡锡的亲信向《太阳报》强调，议员们——尤其是那些过去在麦卡锡帮助下当选的人——经常找麦卡锡寻求建议，以助其自身竞选、筹款策略及其他目标。
“In the House, they were in the fewest amount of days. … They let the Democrats dictate,” McCarthy told BloombergTV last week. “You have to give a reason why to win. What are the three things Republicans will do if they win the majority? I can’t tell you what that is.”A source close to McCarthy emphasized to The Sun that members — particularly those whom McCarthy has helped elect in the past — routinely come to McCarthy and seek his counsel for help with their own races, fundraising strategies and other goals.
麦卡锡在国会山仍有强有力的盟友，其中一些人已私下成为乔丹的主要支持者。
McCarthy still has strong allies on Capitol Hill, and some of them have privately become Jordan’s top supporters.
“凯文总是在帮所有人，”一位资深共和党议员对《太阳报》说。“除了约翰逊。”周一，乔丹在南卡罗来纳州接受《太阳报》采访时，拒绝回应他是否计划或考虑在两周后竞选共和党领袖的说法。他反复坚称，他的唯一使命是保持众议院在共和党手中。
“Kevin’s always helping everyone,” one senior GOP member told The Sun. “Well, everyone but Johnson.”In an interview with The Sun in South Carolina on Monday, Jordan would not engage with the notion that he was planning or thinking about possibly running for Republican leader in two weeks. He repeatedly insisted his sole mission was to keep the House in GOP hands.
“我不是想玩什么游戏，只是专注于接下来的八天，”他说。“我专注于保住多数党地位。”
“I am not trying to play games, but just I’m focused on the next eight days,” he said. “I’m focused on keeping the majority.”
被问及麦卡锡对约翰逊表现的评价时，乔丹表示，“你可以随意争辩，我只知道，我们现在的处境就是如此。”虽然没有共和党人愿意承认幕后正在进行布局，但乔丹、约翰逊和斯卡利斯的盟友都在努力确保，在11月10日众议院共和党举行领导层选举时，他们各自支持的候选人能够获胜。
Asked about McCarthy’s comments about Johnson’s performance, Jordan said that while “you can debate with that all you want, all I know is, here’s where we’re at.”While no Republican is willing to acknowledge there is positioning going on behind the scenes, allies of Jordan, Johnson and Scalise all have been working to ensure that come Nov. 10, when House Republicans hold their leadership election, their preferred candidate will win.
三人都在全国各地为党内现任议员和共和党挑战者助选，并试图与将在内部党团会议上拥有投票权的人建立联系。如果共和党失去众议院控制权，在无记名投票中获得共和党议员简单多数票的候选人将成为少数党领袖。不同于众议院全院公开投票选出多数党领袖，这场竞争取决于人际关系，甚至连唐纳德·特朗普总统的背书也可能不起作用。
All three have been barnstorming the country for members and GOP challengers, and attempting to make inroads with the people who will have a vote in the internal conference contest. If Republicans lose the House, the candidate with a simple majority of Republican members’ votes in a secret-ballot race becomes the minority leader. Unlike the public vote on the House floor for the majority leader, this contest hinges on relationships, and even President Donald Trump’s endorsement may not be a factor.
至于他是否认为约翰逊是带领党团在少数党地位下前行的合适人选，乔丹称赞了议长的工作以及他过去三年的应对方式。但他对终极问题避而不答。
As for whether he believes Johnson is the right person to lead the conference in the minority, Jordan commended the speaker for his work and how he’s handled the past three years. But he demurred from the ultimate question.
“我认为迈克干得非常出色，但我现在不担心那些事，”乔丹说。“我们得专心阻止‘美国民主社会主义者’。” 本报道已更新，更正了众议院共和党领导层选举的日期。
“I think Mike’s done an outstanding job, but I’m not worried about any of that stuff right now,” Jordan said. “We got to worry about stopping the DSA.”This story was updated to correct the date of the House Republican leadership elections.