下一任众议院法律顾问将帮助制定民主党对国会监督的方法。这可能是哈基姆·杰弗里斯在1月如预期般手握议长槌、并点燃与总统唐纳德·特朗普蓄势已久的宪法冲突时，做出最重要的决定：挑选众议院的首席律师。
The next House counsel will help craft Democrats’ approach to congressional oversight. It may be the most important decision Hakeem Jeffries makes when, as expected, he takes the speaker’s gavel in January and ignites a long-awaited constitutional clash with President Donald Trump: the selection of the House’s top lawyer.
众议院总法律顾问将成为该院法律战略背后的核心力量，以打破特朗普预计会进行的阻挠；该顾问还将充当把关人，确保只有稳操胜券的诉讼才会诉诸法庭；同时，该顾问也是抵御司法部的盾牌，而司法部此前已经尝试并未能起诉多名民主党议员。如果众议院对特朗普发起第三次弹劾，其律师还将负责领导该院进入这个鲜有诉讼先例的领域。N这项艰巨的工作职责伴随着一个更加宏大的目标：重申国会制衡总统的权力，并扭转民主党人所认为的在单党统治下行政部门向专制缓慢迈进的趋势。
The House general counsel will be the muscle behind the chamber’s legal strategy to shatter Trump’s anticipated stonewalling, its gatekeeper to ensure only winnable fights end up in court, and its shield against a Justice Department that has already tried and failed to indict several Democratic members. And if the House pursues a third impeachment against Trump, its lawyer will be tasked with leading the chamber into the rarely litigated breach. That daunting job description comes with an even more ambitious goal: reasserting Congress’ power to check the president and reversing what Democrats see as the executive branch’s slow march toward autocracy under one-party rule.
民主党人数周来一直在开会讨论以制定这一方略——甚至在夺回众议院多数席位之前就开始了——他们会见了精通国会权力原则的律师，以便为1月3日的到来做好准备。
Democrats have been huddling for weeks to chart this approach — even before recapturing the House majority — meeting with lawyers steeped in the precepts of congressional power so they’re ready come Jan. 3.