02
President Donald Trump may have made the decision to launch the war that tanked voters’ support for the GOP and dealt them a midterm shellacking. But the historic losses are accelerating a push for someone else to take the fall: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
发动这场战争、让选民对共和党的支持崩盘、并在中期选举中给了共和党一记惨败的，或许正是唐纳德·特朗普总统本人。但这场历史性的败选，正在加速一股“找别人顶罪”的势头——被推上前台的是国防部长皮特·赫格塞斯。
03
And the House could vote as soon as next week to impeach the Pentagon’s top leader.
而众议院最快下周就可能表决弹劾这位五角大楼的一号人物。
04
Many Republican lawmakers and allies alarmed by Tuesday’s wipeout are moving swiftly to pin blame for the election results on Hegseth, arguing behind the scenes that he played a chief role in convincing Trump to attack Iran with no exit strategy — and no plan for managing the inevitable political fallout.
周二的全军覆没让许多共和党议员和盟友惊醒，他们迅速行动，把选举结果的责任钉在赫格塞斯身上。私底下他们主张：正是他起了主要作用，说服特朗普对伊朗动武，却既没有退出战略，也没有应对必然到来的政治余波的方案。
05
The knives-out campaign comes despite private acknowledgement from House and Senate GOP strategists that the party’s problems extended far beyond the war, triggering 2008-level losses that will take years to reverse. But for now, party leaders – and many in their ranks – remain unwilling to directly blame Trump for their woes.
这场“刀子已经出鞘”的围剿，是在共和党人私下承认问题远不止于战争的情况下展开的——参众两院的共和党策略师承认，本党的问题远超这场战争，造成了 2008 年量级的惨败，而要扭转局面需要数年。但眼下，党内领袖——以及他们当中的许多人——仍不愿把自家的困境直接归咎于特朗普。
06
Even among House Republicans who survived Tuesday’s onslaught, there’s zero expectation they will suddenly break from the president with two years left in his term. Yet that fealty does not extend to Hegseth, the combative defense secretary who has made few friends on Capitol Hill since taking over command of the Pentagon.
即便是在周二那场猛攻中幸存下来的众议院共和党人当中，也没有任何人指望他们会突然与总统决裂——他的任期还剩两年。但这份忠诚并不延伸到赫格塞斯身上：这位好斗的国防部长自接管五角大楼以来，在国会山上几乎没交到什么朋友。
07
House Republicans are expected to vote to directly repudiate the defense secretary in a matter of days. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, the famously anti-Trump GOP lawmaker, told CNN he plans to trigger a vote to impeach Hegseth when Congress returns next week — and multiple GOP sources said they expect it to pass.
预计几天之内，众议院共和党人就会投票，直接对这位国防部长表达否定。肯塔基州众议员托马斯·马西——那位以反特朗普著称的共和党议员——对 CNN 说，他打算在国会下周复会后推动一场弹劾赫格塞斯的表决；多名共和党消息人士称，他们预计表决会通过。
09
Hegseth, a vocal cheerleader for the war, oversold the US’ ability to win the conflict quickly and easily, multiple Republicans argued to CNN, describing on condition of anonymity why many in their party are now turning against the defense secretary. They accused him of continuing to advocate for escalation despite little sign that continued bombing has brought Iran closer to surrender.
多名共和党人向 CNN 表示，作为这场战争最响亮的吹鼓手，赫格塞斯夸大了美国迅速、轻松取胜的能力；他们在匿名的条件下解释了本党为何有这么多人如今转而反对这位国防部长。他们指责他持续主张升级战事，尽管几乎没有迹象显示，持续的轰炸让伊朗更接近投降。
10
The conflict has since turned into a quagmire, they said, entangling the US in the Middle East indefinitely, worsening the affordability crisis, and triggering voters’ midterm revolt against the GOP. On Wednesday, Vice President JD Vance issued an extraordinary statement that “the reason we lost is the war,” though he did not assign any specific blame for the conflict.
他们说，这场冲突此后变成了泥潭，把美国无限期地拖在中东，加重了生活成本危机，并触发了选民在中期选举中对共和党的反叛。周三，副总统 JD·万斯发表了一份极不寻常的声明，称“我们输掉的原因就是这场战争”——尽管他没有为这场冲突指明具体的责任人。
11
“The pivot is starting” on the war and Hegseth, a former senior Pentagon official said. “This has been primarily a Department of War-led effort because you chose to take military action to resolve a foreign policy matter.”
一位前五角大楼高级官员说，围绕这场战争和赫格塞斯的“转向已经开始了”。“这件事主要是由战争部主导推进的，因为你选择用军事行动去解决一个外交政策问题。”
12
Still, despite efforts around him to turn up the heat on Hegseth, Trump’s own confidence in his defense secretary hasn’t yet wavered even as he’s continued to survey allies about his performance, multiple White House officials told CNN.
不过，多名白宫官员对 CNN 说，尽管身边的人在设法给赫格塞斯加压，特朗普本人对这位国防部长的信心尚未动摇——即便他一直在向盟友打听赫格塞斯的表现。
13
Trump personally likes Hegseth, and has told aides that he believes he should fight back against efforts to impeach him or launch investigations into his decision-making.
特朗普个人是喜欢赫格塞斯的。他还对助手说，他认为赫格塞斯应当反击那些弹劾他的动作，以及针对其决策的调查。
14
“Just two days ago the president was in the room with him, telling him, ‘You’re my best guy. You’re the best guy I have,’” one of the officials said.
“就在两天前，总统还和他同处一室，对他说：‘你是我最好的人。你是我手下最好的人。’”其中一位官员说。
15
Trump may also feel an additional need to keep Hegseth around if he chooses to move forward with additional strikes against Iran, another source familiar with his thinking told CNN, especially with Democrats’ new majority in the Senate likely to complicate any administration efforts to confirm new Cabinet appointees.
另一位熟悉特朗普想法的消息人士对 CNN 说，如果特朗普决定对伊朗发动更多打击，他可能还多了一层留住赫格塞斯的理由——尤其是在民主党已掌握参议院多数、任何新内阁人选的确认都可能因此变得麻烦的情况下。
16
Pressed Wednesday on Hegseth’s job status, Trump defended the war effort and denied any plans to fire him, saying he thought the defense secretary was “doing a very good job.”
周三被追问赫格塞斯的去留时，特朗普为这场战争辩护，并否认有任何解职计划，称他认为这位国防部长“干得非常好”。
17
“If I had it to do again, I’d have to do it again,” Trump said of his decision to go to war.
“如果让我重来一次，我还是得这么做，”特朗普在谈到开战决定时说。
19
The White House also decried the prospect of Democratic investigations into the Pentagon, with spokeswoman Lauren Bis arguing in a statement that “if Democrats choose to pursue sham investigations and radical left policies, they are choosing to work against the American people.”
白宫还抨击了民主党可能对五角大楼展开调查的前景。发言人劳伦·比斯在声明中主张：“如果民主党选择搞走过场式的调查、推行激进左翼政策，那就是选择与美国人作对。”
20
But some Republicans feel it may be only a matter of time before Trump looks for someone to blame for the midterm losses, and they view Hegseth as an obvious target.
但一些共和党人觉得，特朗普为中期选举的失利找一个替罪羊，可能只是时间问题；而在他们眼里，赫格塞斯就是那个显而易见的目标。
21
“If the president is serious about anyone taking responsibility for it, it’s Pete Hegseth,” one Republican close to the White House said of the electoral thrashing. “Pete has been either dishonest or incorrect — neither of which are acceptable — about timelines, goals and objectives since the beginning.”
“如果总统是认真的、要有人为此负责，那个人就是皮特·赫格塞斯，”一位与白宫关系密切的共和党人在谈到这场选举溃败时说。“从一开始，皮特在时间表、目标和目的上，要么不诚实，要么说错了——这两样都不能接受。”
22
Trump has not yet signaled plans to fire any top officials. But in the aftermath of the GOP’s midterm drubbing, allies and advisers widely expect him to eventually oversee some level of changes within the administration.
特朗普尚未释放出要解职任何高层官员的信号。但在共和党中期选举惨败之后，盟友和顾问普遍预计，他最终会在政府内部主导某种程度的调整。
23
Within Trump’s orbit, some have seized on Hegseth’s likely impeachment as additional justification for making him the fall guy in the wake of an embarrassing rebuke of Trump’s presidency — contending that he’s bound to become a central target of Democrats’ ire over the war anyway.
在特朗普的圈子里，有些人抓住赫格塞斯可能被弹劾这件事，把它当作把他推为替罪羊的又一条理由——毕竟，在特朗普的总统任期遭到一次难堪的否定之后，总得有人来承担；他们主张，反正他注定会成为民主党因这场战争发泄怒火的主要靶子。
24
Hegseth, for his part, has been defiant about his ability to withstand the forthcoming wave of congressional scrutiny.
就赫格塞斯本人而言，对于自己能否扛住即将到来的国会审查浪潮，他的态度相当强硬。
25
While he has at times discussed his potential future ambitions with allies — including possibly running for office in Tennessee — those closest to Trump don’t believe that’s an immediate goal of his, people familiar with the discussions said. (Some Republicans on the Hill, in the meantime, privately bristle at the prospect of Hegseth serving in Congress.)
据知情人士说，他有时会与盟友谈起自己未来的抱负——包括可能在田纳西州竞选公职——但特朗普身边最亲近的人并不认为这是他眼下的目标。（与此同时，国会山上的一些共和党人私下里对赫格塞斯进入国会的前景感到恼火。）
26
In the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s midterm election results, one person close to Hegseth told CNN that Trump’s defense secretary still expects to stay in his role and is prepared to fight an impeachment effort.
周二中期选举结果出炉后不久，一位与赫格塞斯关系密切的人士对 CNN 说，这位国防部长仍预期留任，并准备好迎战弹劾。
27
Hegseth has also communicated to the White House that he’s prepared to own every policy decision and action taken by the Pentagon, the person said, believing that he’s well-equipped to defend those moves in public hearings that would likely grow contentious if Democrats launch them after they take control of Congress in January.
这位人士说，赫格塞斯还向白宫传达：他准备为五角大楼的每一项政策决定和行动负责。他相信自己完全有能力在公开听证会上为这些举措辩护——如果民主党在明年 1 月掌控国会后启动听证，场面很可能会变得相当激烈。
29
In a statement, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said that Hegseth “will not back down or be deterred by politicians seeking to score partisan points or launch phony investigations where no wrongdoing exists.”
五角大楼首席发言人肖恩·帕内尔在声明中说，赫格塞斯“不会被那些想捞党派政治分、或是在并无不当行为的情况下搞假调查的政客吓退，也不会因此退缩”。
30
“We will continue to drive President Trump’s agenda at the Department of War — despite threats of sham witch hunts from Democrats — and Secretary Hegseth is 100% committed to leading the Department until the end of President Trump’s term in office,” Parnell said.
“我们将继续在战争部推进特朗普总统的议程——不管民主党人如何威胁要搞走过场的政治迫害——赫格塞斯部长百分之百致力于领导这个部门，直到特朗普总统任期结束，”帕内尔说。
31
Yet once that congressional scrutiny ramps up, Trump advisers and allies have questioned how long Hegseth’s resolve might last. Even before Tuesday, several White House officials, members of the president’s political operation and Trump allies candidly acknowledged the Iran war was — in their view — their biggest liability for the midterms. And Hegseth, one of the biggest proponents of military action in Iran, is intrinsically linked to that liability, they added.
然而一旦国会的审查升级，特朗普的顾问和盟友就在怀疑：赫格塞斯的决心能撑多久。甚至在周二之前，几位白宫官员、总统政治团队中的成员以及特朗普的盟友就坦率承认，在他们看来，伊朗战争是他们在中期选举中最大的包袱。他们补充说，作为对伊朗动武最主要的支持者之一，赫格塞斯与这个包袱本质上是绑在一起的。
32
“I think he probably knows he’s dead but would like an exit sufficiently dramatic that it gives him a launching pad to run for POTUS,” one administration official said.
“我觉得他大概知道自己已经完了，但他想要一个足够戏剧性的退场，好给自己一个竞选总统的发射台，”一位政府官员说。
33
For skeptics of the administration’s open-ended war in Iran, successfully pushing Hegseth out of the Pentagon would mark a critical victory — but only the first step in a broader effort to bring the fight to an end.
对本届政府这场没有尽头的伊朗战争持怀疑态度的人来说，成功把赫格塞斯赶出五角大楼将是一场关键胜利——但那只是终结这场战事的更大努力中的第一步。
34
After all, Massie noted, Trump has continued to argue for continuing the war in Iran, no matter the political and economic price paid at home.
毕竟，马西指出，无论在国内付出多大的政治和经济代价，特朗普仍在为继续进行伊朗战争辩护。
35
“You don’t screw up this badly an election with just one issue,” Massie said. “It was completely avoidable if they’d just broken out of the cultish following of Donald Trump.”
“你不会只因为一个议题就把一场选举搞得这么糟，”马西说。“只要他们摆脱对唐纳德·特朗普那种邪教式的追随，这本来完全可以避免。”