民主党考虑抛弃纳德勒，重组以对抗特朗普
【中美创新时报2024 年 12 月 1 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）众议院民主党人正在考虑在下一届国会中将一些最资深的领导人从高层职位上撤下，原因是担心年迈的成员无法胜任对抗当选总统唐纳德·特朗普及其在国会的忠实共和党盟友的任务。《纽约时报》记者安妮·卡尼对此作了下述报道。
最近几天，数十名民主党人私下敦促马里兰州众议员杰米·拉斯金挑战纽约州众议员杰罗德·纳德勒，争夺司法委员会民主党最高职位，这一争论愈演愈烈。他们这样做是担心纳德勒无法有效阻止特朗普滥用权力的行为。
现年 77 岁的纳德勒是纽约州国会代表团团长，他明确表示没有辞职的计划。据了解拉斯金想法的同事透露，61 岁的拉斯金正在考虑挑战，但尚未决定是否要挑战。这些同事不愿透露姓名，他们讨论了此事。
“作为一名纽约人，我整个职业生涯都在与唐纳德·特朗普对抗，”纳德勒在致同事的一封信中写道，信中他宣布竞选连任，并强调了他与特朗普对抗的历史。 “当他成为总统后，我领导司法委员会努力追究他的各种滥用职权行为，最终导致了两次历史性的弹劾。”
拉斯金曾是宪法学教授，他作为 2021 年对特朗普的弹劾案首席经理以及调查当年 1 月 6 日国会大厦袭击事件的众议院委员会的民主党高层，积累了一批进步的粉丝。在与前任和未来总统的较量中，许多同事认为他比纳德勒更具侵略性、表达能力更强、更精明。
据知情人士透露，前议长南希·佩洛西 (Nancy Pelosi) 是私下鼓励他挑战纳德勒的人之一。
拉斯金和纳德勒也是亲密的朋友，这让内部的戏剧性场面更加令人不安。纳德勒领导了拉斯金竞选监督委员会最高职位的鞭策行动，他现在担任该职位。他们都是众议院非官方犹太核心小组的成员。
两人均未回应置评请求。
众议院民主党领导人保持中立，告诉议员们，党团“应该按照自己的意愿”进行内部选举，选出委员会中的顶级民主党人。
但即便是这种看似无害的声明也标志着民主党领导人的典型立场发生了变化，民主党领导人过去的政策是保护众议院委员会高级职位的现任者，阻止挑战者。
少数党领袖、纽约州民主党众议员哈基姆·杰弗里斯拒绝就此事发表评论。
党内阴谋体现了民主党在特朗普获胜和共和党横扫国会之后试图重组，并在国会山对特朗普及其“让美国再次伟大”盟友发起更有效的反对。
许多民主党人预计，司法委员会将成为明年行动的中心，该委员会由俄亥俄州众议员吉姆·乔丹领导，他是特朗普在国会山最亲密、最有战斗力的盟友之一。司法部独立性、法治和总统权力以及生育权等重要斗争将在此展开。
一些民主党人对纳德勒领导委员会的不满情绪日益高涨。有人抱怨说，他很少偏离谈话要点，而拉斯金则被视为一位言辞尖刻的辩论者，更擅长即兴辩论。
进步民主党人尤其积极推动纳德勒下台。一位著名的左翼活动家警告说，如果他不主动辞职，纳德勒最终可能会像加州民主党参议员黛安娜·范斯坦一样，她在 89 岁时被迫暂时离开司法界最高职位，而当时显然她的健康和认知问题已经使她无法胜任这一职位。不到六个月后，她就去世了。
“杰里·纳德勒是国会和纽约的传奇人物，他终究会在政治生涯的某个阶段退位，”进步变革运动委员会联合创始人亚当·格林说。“问题是：他会更像南希·佩洛西还是黛安·范斯坦？”
没有迹象表明纳德勒患有与范斯坦类似的健康问题或认知衰退。
强大的司法委员会并不是唯一一个可能面临改组的委员会。在众议院各大委员会中，民主党人正在考虑提拔更具战斗力、略显年轻的议员，取代那些年事已高的公牛，许多人认为后者已经过了巅峰时期，不适合特朗普时代的肉搏政治斗争。
在自然资源委员会，现任资深成员、亚利桑那州众议员劳尔·M·格里贾瓦 (Raúl M. Grijalva)（76 岁）正面临来自加利福尼亚州众议员、60 岁的贾里德·霍夫曼 (Jared Huffman) 的挑战。霍夫曼正在积极开展竞选活动，并发出备忘录，指出他已连续六个周期在筹款和缴纳会费方面胜过格里贾瓦。
“随着特朗普‘头 100 天’议程的冲击波即将冲击我们的委员会，由我们的资深成员领导的有效委员会工作对于限制特朗普 2025 项目议程造成的损害、推进我们的积极议程、支持艰难选区的成员以及形成对比至关重要，这些对比使民主党能够在 2026 年或更早的时候重新夺回众议院多数席位，并让哈基姆·杰弗里斯 (Hakeem Jeffries) 成为众议院议长，”霍夫曼在致同事的信中宣布竞选。
然而，拉斯金却在拖延。在他犹豫是否要挑战纳德勒时，一些希望他这样做的人引用了佩洛西经常引用的一句话：“没有人给你权力。你必须从他们那里夺取。”尽管如此，拉斯金还是在考虑是否要削弱一位还没有准备好离职的资深同事，这位同事私下里对潜在的挑战表示愤怒。
“杰米高人一等——他广受尊敬，是明星，他是我们最优秀的人之一，”哈夫曼说。当被问及拉斯金竞选时得到的鼓励时，他说：“这可能反映了他受到的高度尊重。”
哈夫曼拒绝对纳德勒发表评论。
在给同事的信中，纳德勒写道，他希望继续担任他的职务，“因为我们的民主结构受到新政府及其国会盟友的威胁。”他说，他和司法委员会的同事将成为“抵御‘让美国再次伟大’多数派危险议程的堡垒”。
作为监督委员会的民主党高层，拉斯金将自己定位为抵制特朗普议程的领导者。在过去两年中，他试图让委员会中的共和党人难堪，并确保对无理发起调查的行为承担职业后果。他警告众议院共和党人盲目追随特朗普的风险和后果，但收效甚微。
他还鼓励委员会中较年轻的民主党人，包括德克萨斯州众议员贾斯敏·克罗克特和纽约州众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯，大声反击委员会中的共和党人。
他自己也这么做了。
在共和党人宣布佐治亚州众议员玛乔丽·泰勒·格林将在新一届国会中领导一个新的小组委员会，与埃隆·马斯克和维韦克·拉马斯瓦米合作“消除政府浪费”后，拉斯金在一份尖刻的声明中猛烈抨击了这一消息。
“因此，现在，著名的美国政府学生玛乔丽·泰勒·格林众议员将主持一个小组委员会，与两位未经审查的亿万富翁合作，他们将在特朗普的领导下从政府那里获得数十亿美元的政府合同和补贴，”他说。
但随着共和党横扫白宫和参众两院，民主党预计，司法委员会，而不是监督委员会，将成为明年反击特朗普的行动中心。
本文最初发表于《纽约时报》。
题图：在与前任和未来总统对决时，许多同事认为众议员杰米·拉斯金比众议员杰罗德·纳德勒更具侵略性、表达能力强、精明。Kent Nishimura/Getty
附原英文报道：
Democrats weigh dumping Nadler, regrouping to counter Trump
By Annie Karni New York Times,Updated November 30, 2024
Representative Jamie Raskin is seen by many colleagues as more aggressive, articulate, and shrewd than Representative Jerrold Nadler when it comes to taking on the former and future president.
Representative Jamie Raskin is seen by many colleagues as more aggressive, articulate, and shrewd than Representative Jerrold Nadler when it comes to taking on the former and future president.Kent Nishimura/Getty
WASHINGTON — House Democrats are considering pushing aside some of their most senior leaders from top posts in the next Congress, driven by a worry that aging members are not up to the task of countering President-elect Donald Trump and his loyal Republican allies in Congress.
The debate has grown most intense in recent days as dozens of Democrats have been privately pressing Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland to challenge Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York for his position as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. They are doing so out of concern that Nadler will be ineffective in pushing back against any efforts by Trump to abuse his power.
Nadler, 77, the dean of New York’s congressional delegation, has made it clear that he has no plans to step aside. And while Raskin, 61, is mulling a challenge, he has not decided whether to pursue one, according to colleagues familiar with his thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
“As a New Yorker, I have stood up to Donald Trump my entire career,” Nadler wrote in a letter to colleagues announcing his run for reelection to the post, in which he emphasized his history of going after Trump. “When he became president, I led the Judiciary Committee’s efforts to hold him accountable for his various abuses of power, culminating in two historic impeachments.”
Raskin, a former professor of constitutional law, developed a progressive fan base for his work as the lead impeachment manager against Trump in 2021 and as the top Democrat on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that year. He is seen by many colleagues as more aggressive, articulate and shrewd than Nadler when it comes to taking on the former and future president.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been among those privately encouraging him to challenge Nadler, according to the people familiar with the internal discussions.
Raskin and Nadler are also close friends, making the internal drama even more uncomfortable. Nadler led the whip operation for Raskin’s run for the top post on the Oversight Committee, which he now occupies. They are both members of the unofficial Jewish caucus in the House.
Neither responded to requests for comment.
House Democratic leaders have stayed neutral, telling members that the caucus “should work its will” in an internal election to choose the top Democrat on the panel.
But even that seemingly innocuous statement marks a break from the typical stance of Democratic leaders, whose policy in the past has been to protect incumbents in top posts on House committees and discourage challengers.
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., the minority leader, declined to comment for this story.
The intraparty intrigue exemplifies how Democrats are trying to regroup in the wake of Trump’s victory and the GOP’s sweep of Congress, and mount a more effective opposition to Trump and his Make America Great Again allies on Capitol Hill.
Many Democrats expect that the Judiciary Committee, headed by Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of Trump’s closest and most combative allies on Capitol Hill, will be the center of the action next year. It is where important fights will play out over the independence of the Justice Department, the rule of law and presidential powers, and reproductive rights.
There has been growing discontent among some Democrats about Nadler’s leadership of the committee. Some grumble that he rarely veers from talking points, whereas Raskin is seen as a sharp-tongued debater more adept at spontaneous sparring.
Progressive Democrats in particular have been pushing aggressively to get Nadler out. One prominent activist on the left warned that should he fail to step aside voluntarily, Nadler could end up like Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who was forced to take a hiatus from the top Judiciary spot at age 89, long after it had become clear that her health and cognitive issues had made it impossible for her to be effective in the post. She died less than six months later.
“Jerry Nadler is a legend in Congress and New York who will inevitably step aside at some point in his political life,” said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “The question is: Will it be more as a Nancy Pelosi or a Dianne Feinstein?”
There is no sign that Nadler is suffering from any health issue or cognitive decline similar to Feinstein’s.
The powerful Judiciary Committee is not the only one poised for a potential shake-up. Across prominent House panels, Democrats are considering elevating more combative, slightly younger lawmakers over aging bulls whom many regard as past their prime and unsuited to the hand-to-hand political battling of the Trump era.
On the Committee on Natural Resources, Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona, 76, the current ranking member, is facing a challenge from Rep. Jared Huffman of California, 60. Huffman is mounting an aggressive campaign, sending out memos noting that he has outperformed Grijalva in fundraising and dues paid for six cycles in a row.
“With the shock wave of Trump’s ‘First 100 Days’ agenda about to slam into our committees, effective committee work led by our ranking members will be critical to limiting the damage from Trump’s Project 2025 agenda, advancing our affirmative agenda, bolstering members in tough districts and drawing contrasts that enable Democrats to reclaim the House majority in 2026 or sooner and make Hakeem Jeffries speaker of the House,” Huffman wrote in a letter to his colleagues announcing his run.
Raskin, however, is dragging his feet. As he has waffled over whether or not to challenge Nadler, some who want him to do so have invoked a line that Pelosi often quotes: “No one gives you power. You have to take it from them.” Still Raskin, who prizes his reputation for kindness and integrity, is wrestling with whether to undercut a more senior colleague who is not ready to go and has privately expressed anger about a potential challenge.
“Jamie is a cut above — he is so widely respected and is such a star, he’s just one of our very best,” Huffman said. When asked about the encouragement Raskin has received to run, he said: “It probably reflects the high esteem he’s held in.”
Huffman declined to comment about Nadler.
In his letter to colleagues, Nadler wrote that he wanted to continue serving in his post “at a time when the very fabric of our democracy is threatened by the incoming administration and their allies in Congress.” He said that he and his colleagues on the Judiciary Committee would stand as “a bulwark against the MAGA majority’s dangerous agenda.”
As the top Democrat on the oversight panel, Raskin has positioned himself as a leader of the resistance to Trump’s agenda. Over the past two years, he has tried to embarrass Republicans on the committee and make sure there are professional consequences for launching investigations without merit. He has warned House Republicans about the risks and consequences of blindly following Trump, to little avail.
He has also encouraged the younger Democrats on his committee, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, to vocally push back against Republicans on the committee.
And he has done so himself.
After Republicans let it be known that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia would be leading a new subcommittee in the incoming Congress to partner with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to “eliminate government waste,” Raskin lashed out in a snarky statement.
“So now a noted student of American government, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, will chair a subcommittee to work with two unvetted billionaires who stand to receive billions more in government contracts and subsidies from the government under Trump,” he said.
But with the Republican sweep of the White House and both chambers of Congress, Democrats are anticipating that it will be the Judiciary Committee, and not the Oversight Committee, that will be the center of the action next year to push back on Trump.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
