这原本看起来可能是民主党的一场大胜。后来却变成了一场巨大的难堪。
It looked like it could be a huge win for Democrats. Then it turned into a huge embarrassment.
周二，国防部长皮特·赫格塞思勉强躲过了一场针对他的弹劾表决，共和党人除一人外全部投票否决了这项努力，票数为211比204。
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth narrowly avoided an up-or-down vote on his impeachment Tuesday, after all but one Republican voted to kill the effort, 211-204.
但如果出席情况更好，结果可能会不同：如果缺席投票的11名民主党人在场并与本党站在一起，弹劾决议本可推进，从而为惩罚这位处境艰难的国防部长安排后续投票。
But the outcome could have been different with better attendance: Had the 11 Democrats who missed the vote been there and sided with the party, the impeachment resolution would have advanced, setting up votes on punishing the embattled defense secretary.
这11人中的许多人此后发表声明解释缺席原因，包括事先有约、一场手术，以及至少六名议员遇到的交通事故——一辆警车护送的大巴使他们未能及时赶到国会大厦。
Many of the 11 have since put out statements explaining their absence, including a prior commitment, a surgery and, for at least six lawmakers, a traffic incident involving a police-escorted bus that prevented them from making it to the Capitol in time.
但这些错过的投票——以及随后的解释——在民主党圈子里引发了轩然大波，数十名议员和旁观者表示，错过如此关键的投票没有任何借口。
But the missed votes — and subsequent explanations — have prompted a firestorm in Democratic circles, with scores of lawmakers and onlookers saying there is no excuse for missing such a critical vote.
“我们早就知道会有这次投票，所以大家本该拖着懒散的身子走上这些台阶来投票，”加州民主党众议员悉尼·卡姆拉格-多夫周二晚间说。“我们没有任何理由因为出席问题而输掉这次投票。”
“We knew that this vote was coming, so people should have gotten their raggedy selves up these steps to vote,” Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., said Tuesday night. “There is no reason why we should have lost this vote because of attendance issues.”
“不在场的人真该感到羞耻，”她补充说。“因为这些人（共和党人）输了。他们输了，却还是想办法到场把这项法案搁置了。可耻。”佛蒙特州民主党众议员贝卡·巴林特说，她不会就民主党人缺席投票“扔石头”，但她说民主党人必须做得更好。
“Shame on folks who were not here,” she added. “Because these people [Republicans] lost. They lost and they still found a way to show up to table this bill. Shameful.”Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vt., said she wouldn’t “throw stones” about Democrats missing the vote, but she said Democrats have to do better.
“民主党人需要以不同的方式到场，确保我们每一次投票都提前到，绝不给他们一丁点机会，”她告诉MS NOW。
“Democrats need to show up in a different way and make sure that we are early for every single vote and we don’t give them a freaking inch,” she told MS NOW.
当被问及未能击败共和党程序性动议是否属于领导力失败时，纽约州民主党众议员亚历山德里娅·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯称这“不可接受”。她说：“好消息是，我们将迎来30个多数席位，我们不能再这样玩忽冷忽热的把戏了，每个人都必须非常透明地表明自己的立场。”
Asked if the failure to beat the GOP procedural motion was a leadership failure, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called it “unacceptable.”“The good news is that we’ve got a 30-member majority coming in where we can’t keep playing hokeypokey like this anymore and everyone’s going to have to be very transparent about where they stand,” she said.
这次失败的投票——以及随后出现的党内互相指责——对民主党人来说时机不利。民主党人在上周中期选举获胜后士气高涨，正蓄势准备在明年1月接管众议院。
The failed vote — and intraparty recriminations that have followed — comes at an inopportune moment for Democrats, who were riding high after their midterm wins last week and are gearing up to take control of the House in January.
在民主党人本应把注意力放在规划未来之际，他们却在回顾过去、互相指责。
At a time when their focus should be on planning for the future, Democrats are looking backward and pointing fingers.
据一位要求匿名讨论私下谈话的众议院民主党人透露，在一个众议院民主党人的群聊中，一名议员询问那11名民主党人是谁、为什么没有投票，并认为这让党显得很难看。这条消息是在缺席名单公布之前发出的。
In one group chat of House Democrats, a lawmaker asked who the 11 Democrats were and why they didn’t vote, contending that it made the party look bad, according to a House Democrat who requested anonymity to discuss the private conversation. The text was sent before the list of absences was known.
该消息人士称，这11人中的一人表明了自己的身份并解释了情况。随后另一名议员回应说，所有人都必须到国会大厦参加投票。
One of the 11 identified themselves and explained what happened, the source said. Then a lawmaker responded and said that everyone had to be at the Capitol for votes, according to the source.
一位同样要求匿名的众议院民主党高级助手告诉MS NOW，在周三上午的党鞭会议上，马萨诸塞州民主党众议员、众议院少数党党鞭凯瑟琳·克拉克表示，民主党人没有让所有人都到国会大厦投票，令美国人民失望。
During a whips meeting Wednesday morning, Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., the House minority whip, said Democrats disappointed the American people by not having everyone at the Capitol to vote, a senior House Democratic aide told MS NOW, also requesting anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the private meeting.
不过，该助手称，克拉克也指出，即使全员出席——如果缺席投票的11名民主党人和7名共和党人全部到场——该动议仍会失败，因为没有足够多的共和党议员跨党投票。
Clark did, however, note that even if there were full attendance — if all 11 Democrats and seven Republicans who missed the vote were present — the motion would still have failed, since not enough GOP lawmakers crossed the aisle, the aide said.
缺席投票的民主党人之一、内华达州民主党众议员史蒂文·霍斯福德在众议院发言解释了自己的缺席，提到发生了“个人紧急情况”，并表示自己对错过投票承担“全部责任”。“我要求别人承担的问责，同样适用于我自己，”霍斯福德说。
One of the Democrats who missed the vote, Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., spoke on the House floor about his absence, citing a “personal emergency” and saying he took “full accountability” for having missed the vote. “The accountability I demand of others applies to me, too,” Horsford said.
一个引人注目的缺席引发了广泛关注：加利福尼亚州民主党众议员南希·佩洛西。
One notable absence has drawn major scrutiny: Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
她的办公室在给MS NOW的一份声明中表示，这位加州民主党人已返回旧金山，参加一场致敬退伍军人的活动。办公室称这是“她长期定期参加的选区传统活动，也是她作为国会议员最后一次参加”。声明还说：“荣休议长佩洛西支持弹劾赫格塞思部长，若表决将议案交付委员会，她会投‘反对’票。”
In a statement, her office told MS NOW that the California Democrat had returned to San Francisco for an event honoring veterans, which they called “a longstanding district tradition she regularly attends and marked for the last time as a Member of Congress.”“Speaker Emerita Pelosi supports impeaching Secretary Hegseth and would have voted ‘No’ on the motion to refer,” the statement added.
其他错过投票的民主党人也纷纷为自己辩护。加利福尼亚州民主党众议员朱莉娅·布朗利、纽约州民主党众议员劳拉·吉伦、伊利诺伊州民主党众议员乔纳森·杰克逊、科罗拉多州民主党众议员布列塔尼·佩特森、新墨西哥州民主党众议员梅拉妮·斯坦斯伯里和华盛顿州民主党众议员玛丽莲·斯特里克兰均表示自己堵在路上，其中许多人是从城中另一处庆祝女性议员当选的招待会赶来。
Other Democrats who missed the vote have also gone on the defensive. Democratic Reps. Julia Brownley of California, Laura Gillen of New York, Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, Brittany Pettersen of Colorado, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico and Marilyn Strickland of Washington, all said they were stuck in traffic, with many coming from a reception across town celebrating the election of female lawmakers.
斯坦斯伯里在X上发帖称：“与其他国会议员一样，斯坦斯伯里众议员因交通事件以及投票期间一辆巴士由警方护送而无法进入国会大厦投票。当她到达议事厅时，投票刚刚结束。”布朗利告诉MS NOW，当她意识到车流根本不动时，她下车跑了起来，但仍错过了投票。这位74岁的女议员说，当她告诉克拉克自己无法投票时，这位民主党党鞭说“我很抱歉”，布朗利也为自己的迟到向对方道了歉。但这一理由同样受到审视。
“Like other Members of Congress, Rep. Stansbury was blocked from entering the Capitol to vote due a traffic incident and a police escort of a bus during the vote. When she reached the chamber the vote had just gaveled out,” Stansbury said in a post on Brownley told MS NOW she ran out of her car when it became clear the traffic wasn’t moving, but she still missed the vote. The 74-year-old congresswoman said when she told Clark that she wasn’t able to vote, the Democratic whip said “I’m sorry,” an apology that Brownley returned for being late. But that reasoning is also facing scrutiny.
杰克逊、吉伦和斯坦斯伯里的X帖子被附上了社区注释，指出“尽管发生了这起‘交通事件’，众议院其他415名议员仍能到场投票”，而且投票的日期和时间是事先已知的。
A community note was attached to X posts from Jackson, Gillen and Stansbury noting that “Despite this ‘traffic incident’, 415 other members of the House were able to appear to vote,” and that the date and time of the vote were known ahead of time.
尽管民主党人抱怨说，一旦众议院共和党人显然已拥有足以获胜的票数，共和党人就关闭了投票，但这场原定15分钟的投票却持续了半个多小时，为缺席的议员提供了额外时间赶到议事厅。
While Democrats have complained that Republicans closed the vote once it became clear the House GOP had the votes to prevail, the 15-minute vote was held open for more than half an hour, giving absent lawmakers additional time to make it to the chamber.
其他众议院民主党人也在积极响应。针对X平台上一条列出11名民主党人缺席的帖子，纽约州民主党众议员帕特·瑞安——他赶上了投票——表示自己费了很大周折才到场。
Other House Democrats are leaning in. In response to a post on X listing the 11 Democratic absences, Rep. Pat Ryan, D-N.Y. — who made it to the vote — said he went to great lengths to be there.
“其实，我昨天做了背部手术，今天早上自己办理出院，就是为了确保我能投票弹劾赫格塞思。他是历史上最无能、最不道德的国防部长，他必须下台！”瑞安写道。得克萨斯州民主党众议员贾斯敏·克罗克特在参议院初选中落败，明年将不再重返国会。她也表示，自己当时和那些错过投票的民主党人参加了同一场活动。当她看到前方堵车时，她告诉MS NOW，自己改道而行，甚至制定了应急预案，以备需要下车跑向国会大厦。
“Actually, I had back surgery yesterday and checked myself out of the hospital this morning to make sure I voted to IMPEACH Hegseth. He’s the most incompetent & immoral SecDef in history and he needs to go!”Ryan wrote on Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, who lost a primary for Senate and won’t be returning to Congress next year, also said she was at the same event as the Democrats who missed the vote. When she saw traffic ahead, she told MS NOW she rerouted and even made an action plan in case she needed to get out of the car and run to the Capitol.
“无论如何，我都不会让交通阻碍我投下那一票，”克罗克特说。“这对我来说就是如此重要。”周三被问及此事时，纽约州民主党人、众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯表示，他已与部分（但并非全部）错过投票的民主党人交谈过。
“No matter what, I wasn’t going to allow traffic to keep me from that vote,” Crockett said. “It was just that important to me.”Asked about the episode Wednesday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said he had spoken to some, but not all, of the Democrats who missed the vote.
杰弗里斯还明确表示，这次程序性投票失败不会终止民主党人追究赫格塞思责任的努力。
Jeffries also made it clear that the failed procedural vote wouldn’t end Democratic efforts to hold Hegseth accountable.
“皮特·赫格塞思必须下台，”杰弗里斯说。“我们决心确保此事实现。”
“Pete Hegseth has got to go,” Jeffries said. “And we’re committed to making sure that that happens.”