VOA新闻杂志2022--美国国会的控制权仍未决定

Control of US Congress Remains¹ Undecided

Republicans made small gains, but Democrats³ performed better than expected in the midterm elections in the United States. The results left control of the U.S. Congress and the future of President Joe Biden's policies unclear at this time.

All 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives were up for election. The Republican Party needed to gain five seats to win control. By early Wednesday morning, Republicans had won a net of six Democratic House seats. But that number could change as more results are released.

In the U.S. Senate, 35 of the 100 seats are being contested. The Senate is currently evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans. However, Vice⁴ President Kamala Harris is able to provide a tie-breaking vote for the Democrats. Republicans need to gain only one seat to take the majority.

Several important races that will decide control of the Senate remained too close to declare a winner. And election officials warned that it could take days before the results are known.

Democrats were successful in winning governor's races in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Republicans won in Florida and Georgia, with Nevada and Arizona yet to be decided². Those states were important in deciding the winner of the last presidential election won by Biden.

What's on voters' minds?

Just as Republicans had hoped, high inflation was the top consideration for American voters in the midterm elections, a study by VoteCast said. The study of more than 94,000 voters nationwide was conducted for The Associated Press by NORC at the University of Chicago.

About half of voters said inflation weighed heavily in their vote as the costs of food, gasoline, and housing have greatly increased in the past year. About eight out of 10 said the U.S. economy was in bad shape. Some blamed Biden's policies and others said Russia's invasion of Ukraine led to the increase.

A smaller number, 44 percent, said the future of democracy was their main consideration. Biden had said Tuesday's election was a test of American democracy at a time when many Republicans welcomed Trump's claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

The U.S. Supreme⁵ Court's decision to overturn its abortion⁶ ruling in Roe⁷ v. Wade⁸ also played an important part in the midterm elections. Voters approved amendments⁹ to protect abortion in California and Vermont and defeated an anti-abortion measure in Kentucky. VoteCast showed that about six in 10, especially Democrats, said they are angry or unhappy with the Supreme Court's decision.

What's next?

During the campaign, Republicans said they plan to seek cost savings¹⁰ in Social Security and Medicare. Those are the popular retirement¹¹ and healthcare programs run by the government. They also want to make permanent the tax cuts enacted¹² by Republicans in 2017.

Kevin McCarthy is favored to become speaker if Republicans win the majority in the House. He has promised to look for spending cuts in government programs favored by Biden. He told CNN that Republicans would also look closely at continued U.S. arms and financial aid for Ukraine to combat Russia's invasion.

Other Republican lawmakers have promised to investigate Biden's immigration policy at the southern border and the troop withdrawal¹³ from Afghanistan. Some have called for hearings on business activities by the president's son, Hunter.

Biden watched the election results from the White House into the early morning hours of Wednesday. He called to congratulate more than 30 Democratic candidates and told party officials "we're going to surprise the living devil out of people."

The Associated Press reported that Biden's aides have been drawing up plans to deal with possible Republican control of one or both chambers¹⁴ of Congress -- a possibility that Biden recognized would make his life "more difficult."

In two years, the Biden administration pushed through bills to deal with the pandemic and rebuild the nation's roads and bridges. It also set climate policies and attempted to increase U.S. competitiveness with China.

Now, aides and allies say, Biden will work to save those gains and prepare his party for the next presidential election.

Words in This Story

abortion –n. a medical operation that ends a pregnancy

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

6 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

7 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

8 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

9 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

10 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

11 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

12 enacted   

制定（法律），通过（法案）( enact的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• legislation enacted by parliament 由议会通过的法律
• Outside in the little lobby another scene was begin enacted. 外面的小休息室里又是另一番景象。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

13 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

14 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网