PBS高端访谈:特朗普政府下 数百个政府要职空缺

Judy Woodruff: The announced departure of FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe opens up yet another high-level government post under President Trump¹. In his case, it's being filled by the number three ranking person at the FBI. But, as our own Lisa Desjardins reports, there are still quite a few other posts in the Trump administration that remain empty one year in.

Lisa Desjardins: Let's start big. The federal government now has close to two million civilian² workers nationwide. Now let's focus on the biggest bosses. There are a few hundred key positions appointed by the president and approved by the Senate. These are the people who run our government day to day. And one year into the Trump presidency³, many of those posts are still empty. Let's take 630 key jobs, all of them filled by presidential nomination⁴ and tracked by the Partnership⁵ for Public Service. Of those 630 top jobs, about 240 of them right now have no nominee⁶. Another 140 of those jobs have nominees⁷, but they're waiting to be confirmed. Upshot? More than half of key positions right now are unfilled. What are these jobs exactly? The top jobs, agency heads and the second- and third-highest ranking rungs underneath⁸. What do they do? A lot. Things like keeping roads safe. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration does not have an administrator⁹, its top job, right now, nor anyone to head its legal, financial or enforcement divisions. That reportedly has frozen several new safety standards. Something else affected¹⁰? The opioid crisis. The White House Drug Control Office, meant to work on the issue, has no director, and has seen several other appointees leave. And there is a long list of other vacancies¹¹, top spots at the Pentagon and at the State Department, at the Agriculture Department, the offices overseeing national food safety. And at the Energy Department, several key nuclear oversight¹² jobs are unfilled. That's just to name a few. So who's running things? A change in federal law that went into effect just last year allows a temporary acting¹³ replacement¹⁴ in these jobs, but only for 300 days. That's to give presidents time to make nominations¹⁵. But Mr. Trump hasn't made nominations for hundreds of these jobs, and the 300-day clock has run out. That's creating an unprecedented¹⁶ situation. Those acting in these jobs do not technically¹⁷ have the legal authority to do them anymore. One other reason for vacancies, more workers are leaving. The Washington Post reported more than 70,000 federal workers quit or retired¹⁸ in the first six months of the Trump administration. That is a 42 percent increase over the same period for President Obama. But, overall, President Trump may not see any of this as a problem.

President Donald Trump: We don't need all the people that they want. You know, don't forget, I'm a businessperson. I tell my people, when you don't need to fill slots, don't fill them.

Lisa Desjardins: The president wants to shrink government. And that includes at the top. Mr. Trump has fewer slots filled or nominated than any president in 25 years. What we don't know is whether this will make government impressively more efficient or dangerously less functional¹⁹. For the PBS NewsHour, I'm Lisa Desjardins.

Judy Woodruff: Thank you, Lisa.

朱蒂·伍德瑞夫：美国联邦调查局副局长安德鲁·麦卡比宣布卸任，特朗普政府又空出了一个高级职位。目前，这个职位被FBI内排名第三的人物填充。但是，据我们的丽莎·德雅尔丹报道，一年下来，特朗普政府内仍有不少职位空缺。

丽莎·德雅尔丹：让我们先从高级职位开始。在全国范围内，联邦政府现有接近两百万名文职人员。现在让我们聚焦这些大佬。目前有几百个（政府）要职，是由总统亲自任命，由参议院批准（生效）的。这些人维护着我们政府的日常运转。特朗普政府上任已有一年，而这里面的很多职位仍然空缺。让我们来说说630个重要职位，这些职位全部是由总统提名，并由Partnership for Public Service追踪（审查）的。这630个顶级职位中，有240个目前尚未获得提名。另有140个已获提名，但仍在等待（审核）确认。结果呢？目前这些要职中空缺职位过半。这些职位到底是什么？顶级职位，机构（头号）负责人以及二号三号负责人。他们是做什么的？很多。比如道路安全保障工作。美国国家公路交通安全管理局局长，其最高职位，目前没有任命，其法律、财政、执法部门也无人领英。据报道，该局已经冻结了几个新的安全标准。还有什么其他影响？阿片危机。White House Drug Control Office应负责此项工作，但这里没有负责人，其他几名官员也纷纷离任。此外，还有许多职位空缺，五角大楼、国务院、农业部及负责国家食品安全的部门，都有最高职位空缺。在能源部有一些关键的核监管职位空缺。这只不过是点出名的几个而已。那么现在是谁负责这些事宜？去年联邦法律对此作出调整，允许这些职位有临时人员代职，但最长时间仅有300天。这是为了给总统（充足）的提名时间。但是特朗普先生并没有拿出这数百个职位的提名人选，然而300天已过。这种局面前所未有。准确来说，这些职位的代行人员，现已不再具有合法行政权力。职位空缺的另一原因是，离任人数增加。据华盛顿邮报报道，在特朗普政府执政的前六个月中，有超过70000名联邦雇员辞职或退休。这一数字较奥巴马总统同期增加了42%。但总的来说，特朗普总统可能并不以为意。

唐纳德·特朗普总统：我们并不需要他们想要的全部人选。你知道的，别忘了，我是个商人。我告诉我的人民，当你不需要填缺时，就不要填。

丽莎·德雅尔丹：总统想缩小政府规模。包括顶级职位，也是如此。相较25年内的历任总统，特朗普先生填缺提名人数最少。我们不知道的是，这样做会让政府更加高效运转还是会陷入危机，弱化政府职能。PBS NewsHour，我是丽莎·德雅尔丹。

朱蒂·伍德瑞夫：谢谢你，丽莎。

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 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

7 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

8 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

9 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

13 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

14 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

15 nominations   

n.提名，任命( nomination的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nominations are invited for the post of party chairman. 为党主席职位征集候选人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Much coverage surrounded his abortive bids for the 1960,1964, and 1968 Republican Presidential nominations. 许多消息报道都围绕着1960年、1964年和1968年他为争取提名为共和党总统候选人所做努力的失败。 来自辞典例句

16 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

17 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

18 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

19 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。