交通部长肖恩·达菲对于这场突如其来、处理混乱的机场瘫痪事件束手无策，据称事故起因仅是一名承包商更换一根铜线。仅此一项，就在周五下午导致数千架次航班停飞，并可能给航空业造成数百万美元损失。
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy had no easy answers for the sudden and sloppy airport mess that was caused, apparently, by a contractor replacing a copper wire. That was all it took on a Friday afternoon to ground thousands of flights and potentially cost the airline industry millions of dollars.
他借此危机要求国会拨款500亿美元用于联邦航空管理局（FAA）的升级改造。达菲是中期选举不到两周以来，第三位面临严密审视的特朗普政府高层官员。
He used the crisis to demand Congress give the Federal Aviation Administration $50 billion for upgrades. Duffy is the third top Trump administration official since the midterm elections less than two weeks ago to face intense scrutiny.
国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯勉强避免了弹劾，第二天又因其随行人员中有人在阿灵顿国家公墓未表现出应有的敬意，而被一名军人当面斥责。与此同时，商务部长霍华德·卢特尼克因英伟达首席执行官黄仁勋被解职一事承受巨大压力。
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth barely avoided impeachment and then the next day was barked at by a member of the military when someone in his group wasn’t showing the proper respect at Arlington National Cemetery. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, meanwhile, is under enormous pressure related to the ouster of Nvidia’s Chief Executive Jensen Huang.
现在舆论焦点转向了达菲，这位前真人秀明星、前议员曾在今夏大部分时间带着家人游历美国，为拍摄一部新真人秀节目。
Now attention turns to Duffy, the former reality-show star and former lawmaker who spent a big part of this summer traveling around the U.S. with his family for a new reality show.
周五下午，达菲和国土安全部长马克韦恩·马林举行新闻发布会，说明机场故障情况，但这丝毫未能平息数千名滞留愤怒乘客的情绪。
Duffy and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin gave a press conference Friday afternoon about the airport problem, but that didn’t do much to assuage the thousands of furious passengers who were stuck.
周六，达菲在两天内第二次公开要求国会拨款数十亿美元，用于升级空管系统和基础设施。
And on Saturday it was Duffy for the second time in two days demanding billions of dollars from Congress to upgrade air-traffic systems and infrastructure.
前参议院多数党领袖哈里·里德曾名言：参议院光拧个灯泡就要三周。眼下这个国会恐怕还要更久。这是一个跛脚鸭国会。许多人早已身心俱疲（字面与引申双关）。
Former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid once famously said it would take the Senate three weeks just to screw in a lightbulb. It might take this Congress even longer than that. It’s a lame duck Congress. Plenty of people have already checked out (literally and figuratively).
究竟是人为失误（承包商操作失误）还是老旧系统导致了这次故障，可能需要一段时间才能查明。与此同时，感恩节距今不到两周。随后十二月即将来临……这是《政治》通讯的一个版本，为您呈现专家视角解读华盛顿每日的驱动力。如果您尚未订阅，请
Whether the mistake was caused by human error (a contractor messing up) or old systems could take some time to sort out. Meanwhile, Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. And then December looms…This is an edition of the Politics newsletter, bringing you an expert guide to what’s driving D.C. every day. If you’re not subscribed, sign up here.
我是达米安·帕莱塔，《华尔街日报》华盛顿报道主管。作为记者和编辑，我报道华盛顿已有22年。我曾报道白宫、国会、国家安全、联邦预算、经济以及多次市场崩盘。
I’m Damian Paletta, The Wall Street Journal’s Washington coverage chief. I’ve covered Washington for 22 years as a reporter and editor. I’ve covered the White House, Congress, national security, the federal budget, economics and multiple market meltdowns.