美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Signs $1.3 Trillion Spending Bill, Averting A Government Shutdown

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

President Trump¹ has signed a $1.3 trillion spending bill, but he made a point of saying he wasn't happy about it. And that signature only came after the president set up a reality television-style cliffhanger. NPR White House correspondent Tamara Keith reports.

TAMARA KEITH, BYLINE²: There wasn't supposed to be any suspense³. The Senate passed the spending bill known as the Omnibus on a bipartisan basis in the wee hours of the morning. It had already passed the House. All that was needed to avoid a government shutdown was a presidential signature, something that just the day before had been assured by White House budget director Mick Mulvaney.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MICK MULVANEY: Let's cut right to the chase. Is the president going to sign the bill? The answer is yes. Why? Because it funds his priorities.

KEITH: But over on "Fox & Friends..."

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FOX & FRIENDS")

PETE HEGSETH: This is a swamp budget.

KEITH: ...Host Pete Hegseth wasn't so thrilled with the bill.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "FOX & FRIENDS")

HEGSETH: You know, there's no DREAMers in there. There's some pro-life stuff in there.

STEVE DOOCY: There's no wall.

HEGSETH: There's no insurance (unintelligible). But there's no wall. I mean, if you can't - ultimately, the Democrats⁴ controlled this process in the Senate.

KEITH: This is a show President Trump is known to watch, and at 8:55 a.m., Trump threw in a dramatic plot twist.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Moments ago, the president did something that I don't think anyone saw coming when he threatened to veto this huge $1.3 trillion spending bill.

KEITH: It came via a tweet. Quote, "I am considering a veto of the Omnibus Spending Bill." His reason - because it didn't deal with immigration and didn't have enough money for his border wall. This sent shock waves over on Capitol Hill where most members of Congress were long gone, having recessed⁵ for spring break. Suddenly, no one knew what the president was going to do. The silence was broken by another tweet. Trump announced he would be making a statement, which of course would be carried live on TV. Would he sign it or wouldn't he? Trump started off talking about trade with South Korea.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I might ask Secretary Ross to just say a few words about that, and then we're going to get on to this ridiculous situation that took place over the last week.

KEITH: That ridiculous situation, it seems, was the government funding bill, which three minutes into his remarks and 4 1/2 hours after that veto threat tweet, Trump announced he had already signed.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: Therefore, as a matter of national security, I've signed this Omnibus budget bill. There are a lot of things that I'm unhappy about in this bill.

KEITH: And he added...

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TRUMP: But I say to Congress, I will never sign another bill like this again. I'm not going to do it again.

KEITH: Even before today's suspense, it had been a White House week made for TV. First, Trump added a new lawyer to his legal team dealing⁶ with the special counsel investigation⁷ who was a regular on Fox News. Then, late yesterday, Trump announced via tweet that he was replacing his national security adviser⁸, H.R. McMaster, with former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. and more recently Fox News contributor John Bolton, who shortly after the announcement was interviewed on Fox.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARTHA MACCALLUM: Your reaction to your new job.

JOHN BOLTON: Well, I think I still am a Fox News contributor.

MACCALLUM: (Laughter) No, you're not, apparently⁹ (laughter).

BOLTON: I didn't - well, I haven't started there yet, so that demonstrates, I think, the sort of limbo¹⁰ that I'm in because I didn't really expect an announcement this afternoon. But it's obviously a great honor. It's always an honor to serve our country.

KEITH: This came less than two weeks after Trump announced he would replace his top economic adviser with CNBC contributor Larry Kudlow. Oh, and one of the people rumored¹¹ to be up for the job of V.A. secretary - if the president decides to make a change - is none other than Pete Hegseth, the Fox News personality who quite possibly prompted Trump's morning veto threat. Roll the credits. Tune¹² in next week. Tamara Keith, NPR News, the White House.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

4 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》

5 recessed   

v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭

参考例句：

• My rooms were large, with deeply recessed windows and painted, eighteenth-century panellin. 我住的房间很宽敞，有向里凹陷很深的窗户，油漆过的十八世纪的镶花地板。 来自辞典例句
• The Geneva meeting recessed while Kennety and Khrushchev met in Vienna. 肯尼迪同赫鲁晓夫在维也纳会晤时，日内瓦会议已经休会。 来自辞典例句

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 limbo   

n.地狱的边缘；监狱

参考例句：

• His life seemed stuck in limbo and he could not go forward and he could not go back.他的生活好像陷入了不知所措的境地，进退两难。
• I didn't know whether my family was alive or dead.I felt as if I was in limbo.我不知道家人是生是死，感觉自己茫然无措。

11 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

12 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。