紐時賞析／美眾議院失能 724次投票僅27項法律通過...反映共和黨困境

2023年，由共和黨把持的衆議院舉行了724場表決，卻僅27部法案通過成法。圖爲美國國會大廈。（紐約時報）

House Dysfunction: 724 Votes, Only 27 Laws Enacted

美衆院失能：724輪投票僅通過27項法律

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the former speaker, had a positive spin on the five days and record-breaking 15 voting rounds it took him to win the gavel in January. “Because it took this long,” he said after the ordeal, “now we learned how to govern.”

今年一月，美國衆議員、前議長麥卡錫在衆議院歷經五天、進行破紀錄15輪投票，才贏得議長木槌，但他對此抱持正面看法。他歷經這場嚴峻考驗後說：「正因花了這麼多時間，如今我們學會如何治理」。

But as the first year of the 118th Congress draws to a close, the numbers tell a different story — one that doesn’t involve much governing at all.

然而，隨着第118屆美國國會會期即將結束，數據所呈現的卻不是這麼一回事：沒涉及什麼治理。

In 2023, the Republican-led House has passed only 27 bills that became law, despite holding a total of 724 votes.

2023年，共和黨掌控的衆院雖舉行724次投票，卻僅27項法案通過成爲法律。

That is more voting and less lawmaking than at any other time in the past decade, according to an analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center, and a far less productive record than that of last year, when Democrats had unified control of Congress. The House held 549 votes in 2022, according to the House clerk, and passed 248 bills that were signed into law, according to records kept by the Library of Congress, including a bipartisan infrastructure law, the Inflation Reduction Act and the first bipartisan gun safety bill in decades.

兩黨政策中心一項分析指出，與過去十年任何時候相較，今年表決更多立法更少；與民主黨統一掌控國會的去年相比，成效更相距甚遠。據衆院書記官，2022年衆院舉行549次投票，國會圖書館紀錄顯示，通過248項法案並簽署成爲法律，包含一項跨黨派基礎建設法、降低通膨法，以及數十年來第一個跨黨派槍枝安全法。

The list of this year’s accomplishments is less ambitious and more bare minimum, such as legislation to suspend the debt ceiling and set federal spending limits that helped pull the nation back from the brink of economic catastrophe. The tally also includes two temporary spending measures to avoid government shutdowns. The House cleared the must-pass annual military policy bill last week before leaving for the year, although it is not known when President Joe Biden will sign it into law.

反觀衆院今年成績單，通過的法案野心較小且較屬於滿足最低需求，例如立法凍結債務上限並設定聯邦支出限制，好將美國從經濟災難邊緣拉回來。成績單上還包括爲了避免政府關門而通過的兩項臨時支出法案。衆院上週趕在今年休會前，批准了必須通過的年度軍事政策法案，雖然還不確定總統拜登何時會簽署成爲法律。

The numbers reflect the challenges that have plagued Republicans all year and are likely to continue, and maybe even get worse, in 2024: a tiny majority that requires near unanimity to get anything done; deep party divisions that make unanimity all but impossible; and a right wing whose priority is reining in government, not passing new laws to broaden its reach.

這些數字反映的是困擾共和黨一整年的難題，且2024年可能持續並惡化：微弱多數因此需要幾乎一致同意才能實現任何目標；黨內重大分歧使一致同意幾乎不可能；黨內右派的優先要務是阻擋政府，而非通過新法律擴大其影響力。

Molly Reynolds, a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution, said Congress’ productivity issues this year reached a “low point.” She attributed it to deepening political polarization and to the fractured House Republican conference with its too-slim-to-govern majority.

布魯金斯研究所治理領域資深研究員茉莉．雷諾茲表示，今年的國會生產力問題跌至「低點」。她將此歸咎於政治兩極化加劇，以及衆院共和黨會議四分五裂，及其多數優勢常微弱到難以治理。

文／Annie Karni 譯／陳曉慈