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

House Dysfunction: 724 Votes, Only 27 Laws Enacted

美眾院失能：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，美國眾議員、前議長麥卡錫在眾議院歷經五天、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，隨著第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，共和黨掌控的眾院雖舉行724次投票，卻僅27項法案通過成為法律。

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。據眾院書記官，2022年眾院舉行549次投票，國會圖書館紀錄顯示，通過248項法案並簽署成為法律，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.

反觀眾院今年成績單，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。成績單上還包括為了避免政府關門而通過的兩項臨時支出法案。眾院上周趕在今年休會前，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為法律。

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，以及眾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

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【陳曉慈】

歲末年終，紐時以表決次數和立法數量給美國眾議院打考績。源自希臘文的dys是「壞」的意思，dysfunction是進行中的狀態，常用於醫學跟社會學：erectile/renal/cognitive dysfunction或者是Society’s dysfunctions can lead to many other problems.為一常態，除非能被治癒。近義字malfunction則是指單一事件，常用在指機器或是器官故障：a hardware/equipment malfunction.

Spin用於政治語境時有「帶風向」的意思：They have tried to put a positive spin on the situation.替政客政黨擦脂抹粉蓄意誤導輿論的人，英文稱作spin doctor：The spin doctors are trying to revive the party’s fading image.

Bill是尚未通過國會表決的法案；由國會經立法程序通過的成文法律、條例和通則，則稱act，例如「台灣關係法」的英文是Taiwan Relations Act；而law涵蓋較廣義的法理、法律原則和判例等法律概念，台灣關係法就被定位為public law。編纂成法典型態或具備基本法性質的法律則會用code，例如民法(civil code)和刑法(penal code)。