民主党要到1月才正式掌控参议院，但他们已经开始就未来两年议程的范围展开角逐。
Democrats don’t officially take charge of the Senate until January, but they’re already jockeying about the scope of their agenda over the next two years.
他们知道，自封为“否决总统”的特朗普总统仍将在场，阻挠他们希望转化为法律的大规模提案。他们正在辩论的问题是，是否要花时间试图通过这些提案，以此向特朗普和国会共和党人施压，还是转而专注于降低成本、打击腐败等更紧迫的问题。
They know President Donald Trump, who dubbed himself “Mr. Veto,” will still be around to block sweeping proposals they’d like to become law. The question they are debating is whether to spend time trying to pass them anyway to put pressure on Trump and congressional Republicans, or focus instead on more immediate issues to lower costs and tackle corruption.
对于来自密歇根州的参议员当选人阿卜杜勒·埃尔赛德来说，答案是两者兼顾。
For Abdul El-Sayed, the senator-elect from Michigan, the answer is to do both.
“如果我们愿意努力工作，愿意推动我们的目标，那么我们能做的事情几乎没有限制。我们，你知道，但愿上帝保佑，拥有56个席位的多数，我认为我们需要利用它，”埃尔赛德周日在接受《华盛顿太阳报》采访时表示，他指的是密西西比州和阿拉斯加州尚未揭晓的参议院选举。
“There’s really not a limit to the things that we can do if we’re willing to work hard and we’re willing to to drive our goals. We have, you know, God willing, a 56-seat majority, and I think we need to use it,” El-Sayed told The Washington Sun in an interview on Sunday, referring to the yet-to-be called Senate races in Mississippi and Alaska.
埃尔赛德说，他“很乐意”投票支持全民医保，以及投票结束对伊朗的战争，推翻特朗普的关税和他对医疗补助计划的削减。
El-Sayed said he would “love” to vote on Medicare for All, as well as vote to end the war in Iran and roll back Trump’s tariffs and his cuts to Medicaid.
进步派认为，民主党需要向选民展示——选民刚刚在伊朗战争和经济问题上给予共和党人重大中期选举惩罚——他们不仅仅是反特朗普政党。这意味着明年要利用立法多数席位，推进包括大幅扩大医疗保险覆盖范围、竞选资金改革和大幅提高最低工资在内的大胆政策。
Progressives believe Democrats need to show voters — who just delivered Republicans a massive midterm rebuke over the Iran war and the economy — that they can be more than just the anti-Trump party. And that means using their legislative majorities next year to push forward bold policies, including a major expansion of health care coverage, campaign finance reform and a big hike in the minimum wage.
“特朗普有宪法赋予的否决权，如果他想这么做的话，但我们有宪法赋予的权利代表美国人民，通过这个该死的法案，向美国人民展示，我们对维持一个破碎的系统已经厌倦至极，”佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯上周在接受MS NOW采访时表示。
“Trump has the constitutional right to veto if he wants to do it, but we have constitutional right to represent the American people and to pass the damn thing and to show the American people we are sick and tired of maintaining a broken system,” Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders said last week during an interview with MS NOW.
马萨诸塞州参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦在《时代》周刊的一篇评论文章中提出了类似观点，抨击了那些认为民主党应更谨慎地决定向白宫提交什么内容的同党人士。
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren made a similar point in a Time op-ed, taking a dig at fellow Democrats who argued the party ought to be more judicious about what they send to the White House.
“一些民主党人已经认为，向特朗普白宫提交大胆的政策变革是浪费精力。我认为这完全错误，”沃伦写道。“特朗普说他欢迎‘否决先生’这个绰号。好吧，让我们通过美国人民支持的立法来检验这一点，让生活更负担得起，让政府更少腐败。”沃伦的评论文章中特别附上了一个链接，引用了参议员布莱恩·沙茨的言论。沙茨是参议院民主党高层，明年可能担任党鞭。沙茨认为，选民希望国会首先专注于降低汽油和消费品的高昂成本，以及遏制华盛顿的腐败。
“Some Democrats have already argued that it’s wasted energy to send bold policy changes to the Trump White House. I think that’s just plain wrong,” Warren wrote. “Trump says he welcomes the nickname ‘Mr. Veto.’ Well, let’s test that out by passing legislation the American people support to make life more affordable and our government less corrupt.”Warren’s op-ed notably included a link to an article citing comments made by Sen. Brian Schatz, a top Senate Democrat and likely party whip next year. Schatz argued that voters want Congress to focus first on bringing down the high costs of gas and consumer goods, as well as reining in corruption in Washington.
“我不认为现在是时候提出美国总统肯定会否决的事情，”沙茨说。“这在某种程度上是浪费精力。如果我们想要更具抱负，如果我们想要做出更大胆的政策变革，我们将不得不夺取总统职位和两院控制权，而那是2028年的事。”“我认为人们希望我们做的，不是一切，而是几件事，来减轻他们正在经历的痛苦，”他补充道。
“I do not think it is time to propose things that the president of the United States is guaranteed to veto,” Schatz said. “That is somewhat of a waste of energy. If we want to be more aspirational, if we want to make more bold policy changes, we’re going to have to take the presidency and both chambers, and that’s for 2028.”“I think people want us to do, not everything, but a few things to take the pain away from what they’re experiencing,” he added.
到目前为止，民主党高层提出的议程包括结束对伊朗的战争、推翻共和党对医疗补助和联邦食品援助的削减、废除总统的全球关税，以及延长2025年到期的《平价医疗法案》健康保险补贴。更为全面的立法，如“全民医保”，并不在该名单上。
So far, top Democrats have laid out an agenda that includes ending the war in Iran, rolling back Republican cuts to Medicaid and federal food assistance, repealing the president’s global tariffs, and extending Obamacare health insurance subsidies that lapsed in 2025. More sweeping legislation like Medicare for All is not on that list.
埃尔赛德告诉《太阳报》，民主党应尽一切努力防止医疗补助出现“核弹”，包括试图在12月11日为政府提供资金的截止日期之前，通过一项短期支出法案推翻共和党税法中已实施的削减。
El-Sayed told The Sun that Democrats ought to do everything they can to prevent “a nuclear bomb” going off on Medicaid, including trying to roll back cuts enacted in the GOP tax law in a short-term spending bill ahead of a Dec. 11 deadline to fund the government.
“如果我们能在削减措施生效前加以解决，就能避免巨大的损失，而且我认为不应该错过任何机会，”他说。
“If we can address these cuts before they take hold, it would allay a tremendous amount of damage, and I don’t think we should miss any bites at the apple,” he said.
与此同时，特朗普表示，他愿意与新国会中的民主党人合作，并认为他的否决权最终可能迫使民主党人与他达成两党协议。
Trump, meanwhile, has said he is open to working with Democrats in the new Congress and believes his veto power could eventually force Democrats to cut bipartisan deals with him.
“他们会送上来一些东西，你就否决它，”他在上周中期选举前对《纽约邮报》说。“最终，在被全部否决一两个月后——你知道，这纯属浪费——他们会过来达成一项协议。”总统任命斯蒂芬·米勒为其长期助手，米勒一直是强硬移民议程的推动力，这使得两党合作的前景更加困难。
“They’ll be sending stuff up, you veto it,” he told the New York Post before the midterm elections last week. “Eventually, after a month or two of getting all vetoed — you know, it’s just waste — they come over and make a deal.”The president’s decision to appoint Stephen Miller, his longtime aide who’s been the driving force behind a hard-line immigration agenda, makes the prospects for bipartisanship more difficult.
在特朗普的第一个总统任期内，当时民主党控制着众议院，多项重要的两党法案获得通过并签署成为法律，包括刑事司法改革、对俄制裁，以及与加拿大和墨西哥达成的新贸易协议。
Several notable bipartisan bills were passed and signed into law during Trump’s first presidential term, when Democrats controlled the House, including criminal justice reform, Russia sanctions, and a new trade deal with Canada and Mexico.
但明年，民主党将完全控制国会，而特朗普的支持率远低于其第一个任期，这让一些民主党人对其实际通过法律的机会充满信心。
But next year, Democrats will have full control of Congress, and Trump’s approval rating is far lower now than it was during his first term, making some Democrats bullish about their chances of actually passing laws.
“我们必须送给他一些东西，你知道他会觉得不得不签署，因为美国人周二基本上告诉他，他所做的还不够，”亚利桑那州参议员马克·凯利在周末于华盛顿参加“歪曲大会”活动期间对《太阳报》说。
“We’ve got to send stuff to him that you know he feels compelled to sign because the American people on Tuesday basically told him what he is doing is not enough,” Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly told The Sun on the sidelines of the “Crooked Con” conference in Washington over the weekend.
“我也认为，派一些更具雄心的东西去展示，是有道理的：如果让我们掌管国会和白宫，我们想做的一些事情如下。”
“I also think there’s something to be said for sending some stuff that’s more ambitious to demonstrate: If you put us in charge of Congress and the White House, here are some of the things we would like to do.”
被问及是否包括推动全民医保计划，凯利说，“不一定。”针对上周的中期选举结果，参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默表示，民主党将专注于降低成本和打击腐败，无论特朗普是否同意。舒默预计明年将出任多数党领袖。
Asked if that includes trying to pass Medicare for All, Kelly said, “Not necessarily.”Addressing the midterm results last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who is expected to become majority leader next year, vowed that Democrats would focus on lowering costs and fighting corruption regardless of whether Trump agrees with them or not.
“一切都能通过吗？特朗普会把所有法案都签署成法律吗？考虑到特朗普和共和党人的顽固，当然不会，”舒默在华盛顿特区市中心美国进步中心总部的一次演讲中表示，“但我向美国人承诺的是：民主党将为让你们的生活更负担得起、政府更称职、国会山更少腐败而奋斗——一项法案、一块砖头，一直奋斗到你们感受到差别为止。”
“Will everything pass? Will Trump sign all of it into law? Knowing Trump’s and Republicans’ intransigence, of course not,” Schumer said in a speech at the Center for American Progress headquarters in downtown Washington, D.C. “But what I will promise Americans is this: The Democratic Party will fight to make your life more affordable, your government more competent, and your Capitol less corrupt — bill by bill, brick by brick, for as long as it takes for you to feel the difference.”