美国参议员艾伦·阿姆斯特朗在任期的最后几周改变立场，不再支持总统唐纳德·特朗普在其家乡俄克拉何马州提名的一位司法人选，这使该提名人能否在跛脚鸭会期获得参议院确认变得不明朗。
US Senator Alan Armstrong, in his final weeks in office, has reversed course on supporting one of President Donald Trump's judicial nominees in his home state of Oklahoma, clouding the nominee's path to Senate confirmation during the lame-duck session.
特朗普曾在8月宣布，提名俄克拉何马州总检察长办公室律师扎克·韦斯特担任美国俄克拉何马州东区联邦地区法院法官。
Trump had announced in August that he was nominating Zach West, a lawyer in the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office, to serve as a judge in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
韦斯特此前已在参议院司法委员会出席听证，原定于周二在该委员会接受表决，若获通过，其提名便可提交参议院全体表决。
West had already appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee and had been poised to go up for a vote before the panel on Tuesday, which would have allowed his nomination to be advanced to the full Senate.
但委员会周二反而推迟了对该提名的表决，原因是阿姆斯特朗提出了反对。阿姆斯特朗此前曾向委员会交回所谓的“蓝单”，表示支持韦斯特。
But the committee instead on Tuesday put off a vote on his nomination after opposition emerged from Armstrong, who had previously returned a so-called "blue slip" to the committee indicating his support for West.
阿姆斯特朗的一名发言人周三证实，他现在反对韦斯特的提名。一位熟悉提名程序的人士说，即将离任的北卡罗来纳州共和党参议员、参议院司法委员会成员汤姆·蒂利斯已表示支持阿姆斯特朗的立场。
A spokesperson for Armstrong on Wednesday confirmed that he now opposes West's nomination. Outgoing Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has indicated he supports Armstrong's position, a person familiar with the nominations process said.
由于韦斯特需要委员会全部12张共和党票才能推进，蒂利斯的决定实际上使该提名目前无法继续推进。蒂利斯、韦斯特和白宫的代表均未回应置评请求。
Because West needs all 12 Republican votes in committee to advance, Tillis' decision effectively blocks the nomination from moving forward at this time. Representatives for Tillis, West and the White House did not respond to requests for comment.
阿姆斯特朗的决定是11月3日选举后共和党参议员阻挠白宫确认特朗普属意的本州法官人选的又一例。
Armstrong's decision marked the latest instance of Republican senators stymieing the White House's efforts to confirm Trump's preferred picks for judges in their home states after the November 3 election.
白宫和参议院共和党领袖正争分夺秒，力争在民主党于明年1月控制参议院之前确认尽可能多的新法官。民主党在中期选举中至少赢得54个席位。
The White House and Senate Republican leaders are racing to confirm as many new judges as possible before Democrats take control of the Senate in January after winning at least 54 seats in the midterm elections.
但此后，少数共和党参议员对各自所在州的提名人选不予支持。周二晚些时候，白宫更换了阿肯色州一个美国第八巡回上诉法院关键席位的提名人选，原因是该州两位参议员不支持特朗普最初的人选。
But a small number of Republican senators have since withheld support for nominees in their states. The White House late on Tuesday swapped out nominees for a key Arkansas-based seat on the 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals after that state's senators withheld support for Trump's original pick.
共和党籍俄克拉何马州州长凯文·斯蒂特今年3月任命阿姆斯特朗担任“临时”参议员，填补马克韦恩·穆林辞职出任特朗普的国土安全部长后空出的参议院席位。
Republican Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt in March appointed Armstrong to serve as a "caretaker" for a Senate seat that was vacated after Markwayne Mullin resigned to become Trump's homeland security secretary.
11月30日，当选参议员凯文·赫恩将宣誓就职，接替阿姆斯特朗。赫恩赢得了填补该席位的选举。
Armstrong will be succeeded by Senator-elect Kevin Hern, who won the election to fill the seat, on November 30, when he is sworn in. It was unclear if Hern would support West's nomination.
目前尚不清楚赫恩是否会支持韦斯特的提名。赫恩目前是美国众议院议员，其发言人未回应置评请求。
A spokesperson for Hern, who is currently a member of the US House of Representatives, did not respond to a request for comment.
韦斯特自2017年起在俄克拉何马州总检察长办公室工作，先担任副检察长，后担任特别诉讼主任。
West has worked in the Oklahoma Attorney General's Office since 2017, first as solicitor general and later as director of special litigation.
保守派法律活动人士称赞韦斯特在该办公室的工作。他在那里为堕胎限制措施辩护，并主张俄克拉何马州不能禁止宗教学校参与其特许学校项目。
Conservative legal activists have praised West's work in the office, where he defended abortion restrictions and argued that Oklahoma could not bar religious schools from participating in its charter school program.