皮特·赫格塞斯没花多久就开始赞扬他老板的新得力助手。斯蒂芬·米勒获任命为白幕僚长，这可能成为这位陷入困境的国防部长的一根救命稻草，后者已发起一场激进的公开运动以保住饭碗。
It didn’t take long for Pete Hegseth to start praising his boss’s new right-hand man. Stephen Miller’s appointment as chief of staff could be a lifeline to the embattled defense secretary, who has mounted an aggressive public campaign to save his job.
周五，赫格塞斯迅速向米勒表示祝贺，发布了一张自己与这位新任白宫幕僚长并肩而立的照片，配文：“坚守。战斗。捍卫共和国。”
Hegseth was quick to congratulate Miller on Friday, posting a photo of himself alongside the new White House chief of staff with the caption: “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic.”
他又转发了两条帖子，分别送上“热烈祝贺”，并宣称“爱国者掌权”。
He shared two other posts, offering “Huge CONGRATS” and asserting “Patriots in control.”
他最初的帖子只字未提苏西·威尔斯——唐纳德·特朗普总统约一小时前刚宣布将用米勒取代她。稍晚时候，赫格塞斯又发帖，称威尔斯“为人极好”，并感谢她的“领导力、稳健作风，以及为国家和总统所做的杰出贡献”。这位国防部长的社交媒体动态，是他为应对两党推动弹劾的呼声、以及总统据传想让他为本党在选举中惨败背锅而做出的协同防御努力的最新例证。
His posts initially made no mention of Susie Wiles, whom President Donald Trump had announced about an hour earlier he would be replacing with Miller. Hegseth posted again later, calling Wiles “a wonderful person” and thanking her for her “leadership, steady hand, and great service to the country and POTUS.”The defense secretary’s social media posts were the latest example of concerted efforts to defend himself against a bipartisan impeachment push and rumblings that the president was looking to blame him for the election walloping his party suffered.
赫格塞斯的助手们在周四发起的一场社交媒体攻势中创造了“坚守。战斗。捍卫共和国”这一口号，当时关于他前途的疑问开始四起。
Hegseth’s aides coined the phrase “Stand. Fight. Defend the Republic” in a social media blitz they began on Thursday as questions began to swirl about his future.
据一位熟悉白宫内部动态的政府官员透露，近几个月来，随着赫格塞斯对伊朗战争和五角大楼的管理——包括接连解职多名高级军官——受到越来越严厉的审视，威尔斯已对他失望。
Wiles had soured on Hegseth in recent months as his management of the Iran war and the Pentagon — including a string of firings of top military officers — came under increasing scrutiny, according to an administration official familiar with the White House dynamics.
一位高级政府官员在获准匿名讨论敏感内部人事变动的前提下表示，米勒和赫格塞斯“从政府伊始就关系极其亲密”。该官员补充道：“在未来几个月里，你们将继续看到他们多么步调一致——不仅是在总统的优先事项上。”这场突如其来的人事震荡可能对赫格塞斯有利。
A senior administration official, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive internal staffing changes, said Miller and Hegseth “have been extremely close since the beginning of the administration.”The official added: “You’ll continue to see how lockstep they are in the coming months — and not just with the president’s priorities.”The abrupt staff shake-up could work to Hegseth’s advantage.
“我一直听说他很可能要走人了，但麻烦在于特朗普注意力持续时间有限，所以他字面意义上可能只是分心了，然后就不干这事了。毕竟还得建个拱门呢，”众议院军事委员会即将上任的主席、众议员亚当·史密斯（民主党-华盛顿州）告诉《国会山报》（MS NOW）。
“I have been hearing he is likely out but trouble is Trump has a limited attention span so he literally might just get distracted and not do it. There is an arch to build after all,” Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the incoming chair of the House Armed Services Committee, told MS NOW.
特朗普已开始向盟友询问他们对赫格塞斯及其领导能力的看法，一些顾问建议总统更换国防部长。
Trump had begun asking allies for their opinions of Hegseth and his leadership abilities, with some advisers encouraging the president to replace his defense secretary.
“赫格塞斯真的在砧板上了，”一位仍与白宫关系密切的前政府官员表示，并补充说，他的离职可能标志着白宫正在翻过伊朗战争这一页。
“Hegseth is really on the chopping block,” said a former administration official who is still close to the White House, adding that his departure could be a sign that the White House is turning the page from the Iran war.
公开场合上，特朗普继续力挺赫格塞斯，周四对记者说：“皮特·赫格塞斯干得非常出色。”但总统值得注意的是补充说，他的国防部长“可能面临反对”。特朗普承认，伊朗战争及其导致的高油价造成了共和党在中期选举中的惨败，但表示他不会有任何不同做法。
Publicly, Trump has continued to stand by Hegseth, telling reporters on Thursday, “Pete Hegseth has done a fantastic job.”But the president notably added that his defense secretary “probably has opposition.”Trump has acknowledged that the Iran war and its associated high gas prices contributed to the GOP’s crushing midterm losses, but said he would not have done anything differently.
另一方面，副总统JD·万斯周三直言不讳地谈到了战争对其政党的代价，他说：“我们输掉选举的原因是战争。总统昨晚自己也这么说了。”赫格塞斯是特朗普决定于今年早些时候与以色列发动针对伊朗的联合军事行动的设计者之一，也是关键支持者。
Vice President JD Vance, on the other hand, was blunt on Wednesday about the war’s toll on his party, saying, “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.”Hegseth was one of the architects and a key supporter of Trump’s decision to launch a joint military operation against Iran with Israel earlier this year.
即将卸任的众议员托马斯·马西（共和党-肯塔基州）预计最快将于周一迫使众议院就弹劾赫格塞斯进行表决，届时国会将复会，共和党人正努力面对中期选举惨败的现实。
Outgoing Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., is expected to force a vote on impeaching Hegseth as soon as Monday, when Congress is set to return as Republicans grapple with the reality of their catastrophic midterm defeat.
两名共和党人此前告诉《国会山报》，如果弹劾决议提交全院表决，他们预计将会通过。
Two Republicans previously told MS NOW that if the impeachment resolution comes to the floor, they expect it to pass.