资深国会民主党人一直在研究一份长达181页的档案，其中列出了数百名高管和公司，供他们在明年掌控众议院和参议院后进行调查。
Senior congressional Democrats have been studying a 181-page dossier that identifies hundreds of executives and companies for them to investigate after they take control of the House and Senate next year.
据《华盛顿太阳报》审阅，这份由智库“奠基合作组织”起草的文件主张，民主党应通过积极调查大型企业来回应选举结果，调查对象包括最大的科技巨头、人工智能实验室、天然气公司、私营监狱和养老院运营商等数十个行业。
The document, drafted by the think tank Groundwork Collaborative and reviewed by The Washington Sun, argues that the party should respond to the results of the election by aggressively probing large corporations, including the biggest tech giants, artificial intelligence labs, natural gas firms, private prisons and nursing home operators, among dozens of others.
据多位熟悉议员私下策略部署的消息人士透露，众议院司法委员会和监督委员会的民主党人一直在审阅这份文件。这份路线图是党内关于如何积极行使多数党赋予的调查权这一更广泛斗争的开篇之作。
House Democrats on the Judiciary and Oversight committees have been reviewing the document, according to multiple sources familiar with the lawmakers’ private strategizing. The roadmap is the opening salvo in a broader struggle within the party over how aggressively to wield the investigatory powers that come with having the majority.
一些民主党人建议，该党应将重点缩小到唐纳德·特朗普总统的丑闻上，例如他对林肯纪念堂倒影池的翻修和对肯尼迪中心的拆解。这份“奠基”文件——由参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦（民主党-马萨诸塞州）和伯尼·桑德斯（无党派-佛蒙特州）的前助手主导起草——则主张采取更广泛的方法，将民主党的调查范围大幅扩展至总统之外，聚焦于该组织认为导致生活成本危机的广泛企业行为。
Some Democrats have suggested the party narrowly focus on President Donald Trump’s scandals, such as his renovations of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and dismantling of the Kennedy Center. The Groundwork document — spearheaded by former staffers for Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) — argues for a more expansive approach that would broaden Democratic investigations well beyond the president and focus on a wide range of corporate behavior that the group blames for the cost-of-living crisis.
该文件设想，明年将出现源源不断的高调对峙，医疗、科技和能源公司的高管将被传唤到镜头前参加国会听证会，并经常面临被要求辞职或向消费者支付赔偿的压力。
The document envisions a constant stream of high-profile confrontations next year in which executives of health care, tech and energy firms are hauled before cameras for congressional hearings, often to be pressed to resign or pay restitution to consumers.
“特朗普的卡塔尔专机、他的宴会厅、倒影池的翻修——这些事耗费了大量华盛顿圈内的精力，除了那些本就憎恨特朗普的铁杆民主党人之外，对任何人来说都既不有趣也无法激发热情，”Groundwork高级副总裁亚历克斯·哈克斯说。他援引民调指出，调查企业哄抬价格的做法获得了广泛的两党支持。“我们需要把注意力牢牢锁定在民众的痛点上，锁定在那些被民众指责抬高价格的企业身上，这意味着要动用国会的手段去直面它们。”
“Trump’s Qatari jet, his ballroom, the Reflecting Pool renovations — those take a lot of Beltway energy that is not interesting or motivating to anybody but hard-core Democrats who already hate Trump,” said Alex Jacquez, senior vice president at Groundwork, pointing to polling that shows broad bipartisan support for investigating corporate price gouging. “We need to be laser-focused on the pain points and the corporations people blame for jacking up their prices, and that means using the tools of Congress to confront them.”
但民主党人是否会认同这一策略仍不明朗。温和派民主党人一直认为，拜登政府对企业的严厉打击把潜在盟友推入了共和党阵营，并在一定程度上助推了特朗普在2024年当选连任。中间派智库进步政策研究所副总裁本·里茨表示，如果在2028年总统选举前推行类似的议程，可能会疏远许多美国人，并白白浪费掉民主党在特朗普的关税和对伊朗战争之后终于占据的经济优势。
But whether Democrats will go along with this strategy remains unclear. Moderate Democrats have argued that the Biden administration’s aggressive crackdown on corporations drove potential allies into the Republican camp and helped contribute to Trump’s reelection in 2024. A similar agenda in the run-up to the 2028 presidential election risks alienating many Americans and squandering the advantage on the economy Democrats have finally seized after Trump’s tariffs and war on Iran, said Ben Ritz, vice president of the Progressive Policy Institute, a centrist think tank.
“拜登政府确实散发出一种反商业的气息，因为它追求的是意识形态上的执念，而不是经济增长和降低生活成本，”里茨说。“确实会有真正正当的案例需要打击企业的不当行为，但必须有的放矢。不能传达出‘美国企业界是你所有问题的根源’这样的信息，因为大多数人都依赖这些公司提供薪水和改善生活的产品。”其他人，比如另一家中间派智库Third Way负责政策事务的执行副总裁吉姆·凯斯勒，则认为把打击目标定得太多会让选民困惑。他主张，民主党人在去年的政府停摆期间把焦点集中在《平价医疗法案》上是有效的。
“The Biden administration really put out this vibe of being anti-business by pursuing ideological hobby horses instead of growth and getting the cost of living down,” Ritz said. “There will be real legitimate instances to crack down on corporate abuses, but it needs to be focused. It can’t be a message of, ‘Corporate America is the source of all your problems,’ because most people rely on these firms for paychecks and products that make their lives better.”Others, such as Jim Kessler, executive vice president for policy at Third Way, another centrist think tank, say embracing too many targets would confuse voters, arguing that Democrats’ narrow focus on Obamacare during last year’s government shutdown was effective.
“目标要大。目标要少。要深入。不要用散弹枪乱打。这必须让民众能够理解，”凯斯勒说。
“Big targets. Fewer targets. Go deep. Don’t shoot with buckshot. This needs to be understandable to people,” Kessler said.
众议院司法委员会首席民主党议员、马里兰州众议员杰米·拉斯金向《华盛顿太阳报》表示，他的工作人员一直在研究潜在的调查机会，但他也淡化了民主党计划攻击企业的程度。
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, told The Washington Sun that his staff has been reviewing potential investigative opportunities but also downplayed the extent to which Democrats plan to attack businesses.
“我们并非针对特定企业，”拉斯金说。“我们针对的是腐败的体系和网络，只要企业牵涉其中，它们就和所有人一样，要接受国会的监督项目和我们的传票权力约束。”但党内确实有一股势头，要广泛审视美国企业界，即便在特朗普并未牵涉其中的情况下也是如此。评估过“ groundwork”档案的人包括沃伦、众议院民主党党团领袖、党内领导层、国会进步核心小组的成员，以及六名即将上任的参议员的幕僚长。
“We’re not targeting particular corporations,” Raskin said. “We’re targeting systems and networks of corruption, and to the extent corporations are involved, they are subject to the oversight project of Congress and our subpoena authority like everyone else.”But there is momentum in the party to look at corporate America broadly, even when Trump is not involved. Those who have evaluated the Groundwork dossier include Warren, the heads of the House Democratic caucus, party leadership, members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and a half-dozen chiefs of staff for incoming senators.
进步派将在关键职位上拥有许多盟友。桑德斯将担任卫生、教育、劳工和养老金委员会主席。沃伦很可能领导参议院银行委员会。对化石燃料巨头持激烈批评态度的罗德岛州民主党参议员谢尔登·怀特豪斯很可能领导司法委员会。预计将重新执掌财政委员会的俄勒冈州民主党参议员罗恩·怀登可能会向那些缴税很少或根本不缴税的公司施压。
Progressives will have many allies in key positions. Sanders will be the head of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Warren is likely to lead the Senate Banking Committee. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island), a fierce critic of fossil fuel giants, is likely to lead the Judiciary Committee. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), expected to retake control of the Finance Committee, will likely press on companies that paid little or no taxes.
Groundwork设想民主党举行一系列高调听证会，以突出那些被指控有不当行为的公司的案例。该文件提议举行一场听证会，让房东高管就垃圾费用宣誓作证。它提议举行一场听证会，让在线体育博彩公司的首席执行官就行业如何利用人工智能鼓励强迫性赌博作证。它还呼吁要求调查大型信用卡公司是否帮助零售商向大额消费者收取更高价格，并迫使大型连锁杂货店披露它们如何使用消费者数据。
Groundwork envisions Democrats holding a series of high-profile hearings to highlight instances of companies accused of malfeasance. The document proposes a hearing that would put landlord executives under oath about junk fees. It proposes a hearing with the chief executives of the online sports gambling companies about how the industry uses artificial intelligence to encourage compulsive gambling. It calls for demanding investigations into whether major credit card companies help retailers charge higher prices to big spenders and forcing big grocery chains to disclose how they use consumer data.
“基础工作”组织执行主任林赛·欧文斯表示，民主党在特朗普第一任期内举行的弹劾听证会反而提升了总统的政治地位。她说，针对总统的调查必须与家庭的高昂成本挂钩。
Democrats’ impeachment hearings in Trump’s first term improved the president’s political standing, said Lindsay Owens, Groundwork’s executive director. Investigations targeting the president should be sure to tie into families’ high costs, she said.
欧文斯说：“美国人民很清楚，企业贪婪是物价上涨的幕后推手，他们希望看到企业为此承担责任。我们说的是大型企业CEO辞职、把人传唤来、实质性的赔偿。经济民粹主义正在兴起。”
“The American people are clear that corporate greed is behind rising prices, and they want to see it held to account,” Owens said. “We’re talking resignations of major CEOs, hauling people in, material restitution. Economic populism is ascendant.”