众议院自由党团正面临2027年一个陌生的新现实：其影响力存疑。
The House Freedom Caucus is staring down an unfamiliar new reality in 2027: questionable relevance.
这部分是因为，这个超保守派团体本周取得了无可置疑的胜利，其联合创始人兼首任主席、俄亥俄州众议员吉姆·乔丹周二当选为下一任众议院共和党最高领导人。
That’s partly because the ultra-conservative group achieved an indubitable triumph this week, when its co-founder and first chair, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, was elected Tuesday to serve as the next top House Republican leader.
这也是因为，该团体传统上通过在共和党微弱多数席位中充当持票阻塞集团来施加影响力。如今，共和党有望在30多年来保持任何政党拥有的最小的众议院少数党席位。
It’s also because the group has traditionally wielded its power by acting as a holdout bloc in thin Republican majorities. Now the GOP is on track to hold the smallest House minority any party has had in more than 30 years.
“这与在立法机构中作为最有影响力的派系完全不同，该立法机构通过多数控制拥有立法权，”路易斯安那州众议员、党团成员克莱·希金斯说。“嗯，那现在不在考虑范围内了。”自由党团成立于2015年，此前在凯文·麦卡锡领导下，于2019年至2023年期间曾经历过一段少数党时期。但乔丹的崛起引发了关于该团体角色的重大疑问，该团体成立的初衷是推动党领导人向右转，而现在共和党的最高领导人正是他们自己人。
“It's completely variant from being the most powerful faction within a legislative body that has legislative authority through majority control,” said Rep. Clay Higgins of Louisiana, a caucus member. “Well, that's off the table now.”Founded in 2015, the Freedom Caucus persisted through a prior stretch in the minority, under then-Leader Kevin McCarthy, from 2019 to 2023. But Jordan’s ascendance is prompting big questions about the role of a group that was established to prod party leaders rightward now that the GOP’s top man is one of their own.
希金斯表示，例如，“我们的原则是一样的”，但该团体现在将更多地关注“战略协调，以保护我们过去几年确实取得的成果”。另一名成员、印第安纳州众议员马林·斯图茨曼表示，该团体将转向“智库模式，汇集良好信息……以真正向党团其他成员提供信息”。周三的一次新闻发布会上，该团体成员将共和党的重大选举失利归咎于现任党领导人的胆怯，几名成员拒绝了其影响力将有所削减的说法——其中包括几名预计将在下一届国会竞选党团主席的人。
Higgins said, for example, “our principles are the same” but the group would now be more focused on “strategic alignment to protect the gains that we have indeed made over the last few years.”Another member, Rep. Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, said it would move to a “think tank model where we're pulling good information together … to really inform the rest of the conference.”At a Wednesday news conference where members of the group blamed the GOP’s huge election losses on current party leaders’ timidity, several rejected the notion that there would be any diminishment of its influence — including several who are expected to vie to be elected caucus chair in the next Congress.
当被问及乔丹担任领袖后自由核心小组的意义何在时，来自佐治亚州的众议员安德鲁·克莱德嗤之以鼻：“你的意思基本上是说，整个自由核心小组都可以归结为一个人。这不对。”但其他人以某种方式承认，该小组与乔丹的关系可能会很复杂。
Asked what the point of the Freedom Caucus was with Jordan as leader, Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia scoffed: “What you're saying, basically, is that the whole entity of the Freedom Caucus can be found in one man. That's not right.”But others acknowledged in some fashion that the group’s relationship with Jordan could be complicated.
来自密苏里州的众议员埃里克·伯利森与克莱德一样正在竞选核心小组主席，他说他预计该小组有时将不得不向乔丹施压。
Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri, who like Clyde is running for caucus chair, said he expected that the group would have to pressure Jordan at times.
伯利森在接受采访时说：“这就像你雇你弟弟给你盖房子。过程中可能会有一些尴尬时刻，但归根结底，我们有共同的目标和共同的愿景。”自由核心小组如何施加压力尚存疑问。过去，它曾在程序性投票和其他事务上彰显自身力量，因为它拥有足够的人数，可以在众议院全院表决中剥夺共和党领袖的共和党多数优势。这种逻辑在少数党地位下根本站不住脚，因为在野党通常更容易团结一致对抗多数党。
“It's like when you hire your brother to build your house,” Burlison said in an interview. “There may be some awkward moments, but at the end of the day, we have a shared goal and a shared vision.”How the Freedom Caucus can deliver pressure is in doubt. In the past it has asserted itself on procedural votes and other matters where it has enough numbers to deny GOP leaders a Republican majority on the floor. That logic simply does not hold in the minority, where it’s generally easier for the out-party to unite against the majority.
该小组成员曾开玩笑说：“当你处于少数党地位时，每个人都在自由核心小组里。”由于几位有影响力的资深成员流失，该小组也正遭受损失，例如来自得克萨斯州的众议员奇普·罗伊、来自南卡罗来纳州的拉尔夫·诺曼和来自亚利桑那州的安迪·比格斯——他们都在竞选更高职位时失利。前任主席之一的来自宾夕法尼亚州的众议员斯科特·佩里输给了民主党人，失去了席位，来自科罗拉多州的众议员劳伦·博伯特在她的竞选中落后。
Members of the group have joked, “When you’re in the minority, everyone’s in the Freedom Caucus.”The group is also suffering from the loss of several influential veteran members, such as Reps. Chip Roy of Texas, Ralph Norman of South Carolina and Andy Biggs of Arizona — who all lost bids for higher office. Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, a former chair like Biggs, lost his seat to a Democrat, and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado is trailing in her race.
自由核心小组的政治分支在中期选举中也未能取得实质性进展，在几场竞选中投入了资金，但在一场特别残酷的初选季后仅赢得了少数几场。
The Freedom Caucus’ political arm also failed to make serious gains during the midterms, spending in several races but only winning a handful after a particularly brutal primary season.
据卸任主席、来自马里兰州的众议员安迪·哈里斯透露，有几位潜在的共和党新人表现出了加入该小组的兴趣。他预测，到即将召开的国会中期，自由核心小组的成员将比目前这一届更多。
Several potential GOP newcomers have shown interest in joining the group, according to Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, the outgoing chair. He predicted that the Freedom Caucus would have more members by the midpoint of the upcoming Congress than it has in the current one.
现任成员认为乔丹的晋升对该组织是一场重大胜利，但他们也表示，理解他现在有权领导全体共和党成员。
While current members see Jordan’s promotion as a huge win for the group, they also said they understand he now has a mandate to lead the full range of GOP members.
不过，乔丹近期的所作所为正是如此。他在竞选领袖之前试图与共和党温和派建立联系，并采取了更为温和的态度，与十多年前时任议长约翰·博纳称他为“立法恐怖分子”时截然不同。近年来，乔丹在自由党团中的地位已不再核心，但仍经常出席其会议。一位发言人表示，乔丹仍视自己为自由党团以及共和党研究委员会的成员，后者是一个规模更大、激进程度更低的保守派团体。
That’s how Jordan has acted more recently, anyway. He attempted to make inroads with GOP moderates ahead of his leader run and otherwise adopted a more mellow approach from the days more than a decade ago when then-Speaker John Boehner referred to him as a “legislative terrorist.”Jordan has been a less central presence in the Freedom Caucus in recent years but still frequently attends its meetings. A spokesperson said Jordan still considers himself a member of the Freedom Caucus as well as the Republican Study Committee, a larger and less militant conservative group.
当被问及周二当选后的角色时，乔丹表示，他的职责是“帮助众议院共和党人重回多数党地位”。针对关于他未来与自由核心小组关系的提问，发言人回应称：“我们期待与整个共和党会议团结合作，共同对抗并击败激进的民主党议程。”
When asked after his election Tuesday about his role, Jordan said it is to “help House Republicans get back to the majority.”The spokesperson responded to a question about his future relationship with the Freedom Caucus by saying, “We look forward to working with the entire Republican conference to unite against and defeat the radical Democrat agenda.”
“职位越高，责任越广，”得克萨斯州众议员基思·塞尔夫表示，“所以我们不指望他直接为自由核心小组代言。他肯定会是自由核心小组的朋友。”
“The further you go up in leadership, the broader your responsibility,” Rep. Keith Self of Texas said. “So we don't expect him to be a direct advocate for HFC. He will certainly be a friend of HFC.”
小组外部的人士正在琢磨如何适应这一新现实。新泽西州众议员克里斯·史密斯是资历最深的两位众议院共和党人之一，他说自由核心小组“将具有相关性，但我不确定他们的议题会是什么。”史密斯补充说，乔丹“将非常忠实地执行会议希望他做的事。”
Those outside the group are puzzling out how they’ll adapt to the new reality. Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey, one of the two longest-serving House Republicans, said it will “have relevance, but I'm not sure what their issues will be.”Smith added Jordan is “going to be very faithful to what the conference wants him to do.”
当被问及乔丹是否有时需要被推向右翼时，哈里斯表示“毫无疑问”他是一位保守派，并称赞他是“出色的沟通者”，是“我们所需要的”。多名成员预测，自由核心小组可能充当乔丹的内部“热盾”——为他提供掩护，使他在与唐纳德·特朗普总统合作对抗民主党的过程中，能建立对更保守立场的支持。
Asked if Jordan might need to be pushed right on occasion, Harris said there’s “no question” that he is a conservative and praised him as “a superb communicator” and “exactly what we need.”Several members predicted the Freedom Caucus could serve as an internal heat shield for Jordan — giving him cover to build support for more conservative positions as he works with President Donald Trump to battle Democrats.
“吉姆仍然需要这艘船的深舵来引领共和党会议，”希金斯说。“他需要我们在战略上保持一致，并愿意划定红线，而作为会议领袖，这对他来说要难得多。”
“Jim will still need the deep rudder of this ship to guide the Republican Conference,” Higgins said. “He'll need us to align strategically and be willing to draw lines in the sand that would be more difficult for him to do as the leader of the conference.”