纽约时报 52:48 巴雷特宣誓就任最高法院大法官(4)（在线收听）

Republicans claimed the circumstances were different this time because they control both the White House and the Senate.

共和党人声称这次情况有所不同，因为他们同时控制着白宫和参议院。

But Republicans' hardball tactics were fueling a drive by the party's left flank to seriously consider if they take power eliminating the last remaining vestige of minority rights in the Senate, the legislative filibuster.

但共和党的强硬策略促使该党左翼人士认真考虑，如果他们掌权的话，参议院仅存的少数族裔权利残余是否会消失，他们就是立法阻挠者。

They could then proceed to expand the size of the Supreme Court to install liberal justices.

然后，他们可以着手扩大最高法院的规模，设立自由派法官。

Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee,

民主党总统候选人、前副总统拜登，

and leaders in the Senate have declined to discuss plans that could amount to a significant and potentially destabilizing escalation in the fight over the judicial branch.

以及参议院的领导人也拒绝讨论可能导致司法部门争端升级的计划。

But on Monday, even some more moderate senators hinted that the path was open before them if they needed to take it.

但在周一，一些较为温和的参议员甚至暗示，如果他们需要这样做的话，这条道路为他们敞开。

"They expect that they're going to be able to break the rules with impunity, and when the shoe maybe is on the other foot, nothing's going to happen,"

“他们希望自己能够不受惩罚地违反规定，反之，什么也不会发生。”

Senator Angus King, independent of Maine, who votes with Democrats, said of the Republicans.

缅因州独立参议员安格斯·金在谈到共和党时如此表示，他投票支持民主党。

"One of the things that's amazed me since I've come here is how people feel they can do things to one another and never have any consequences."

“我来到这里之后，令我感到很惊讶的一件事是，人们觉得自己可以对别人做一些事情，却不会有任何后果。”

For all of the partisan vitriol, the confirmation process played out with remarkably little drama.

确认程序明显带有刻薄的党派色彩，而且有些戏剧性。

Republicans quickly coalesced around filling the seat, regardless of whom Mr. Trump nominated,

不管特朗普提名谁，共和党人都会很快地联合起来填补这个席位，

and that left Democrats with very little to do but turn to dilatory tactics and make their case to voters.

这使得民主党人只能采取拖延战术，向选民表明他们的立场。

So rich was the prize that Republicans quickly reversed statements from 2016 and 2020 pledging not to fill an election-year seat until the voters had a say.

奖金如此丰厚，以至于共和党人很快改变了2016年和2020年的声明，承诺在选民有发言权之前不会填补选举年席位。

Judge Barrett's qualifications were really never in question, though she had less experience than some of her recent predecessors.

巴雷特法官的资历确实从未受到质疑，尽管她比最近的一些前任法官经验更少。

But in three days of confirmation hearings, she managed to reveal vanishingly little about how she might look at or rule on matters of public interest before the court.

但在为期3天的确认听证会上，她几乎没有透露她在法庭上如何看待或裁决涉及公众利益的事项。

"Judge Barrett may have established herself as the Babe Ruth of saying pretty much nothing," Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, lamented on Monday.

俄勒冈州民主党参议员罗恩·怀登周一感叹道：“巴雷特法官可能已经把自己塑造成了什么都不说的贝比·鲁斯。”