2026-11-09 / CNN
仿佛中期选举从未发生过。
特朗普政府正进入本周围绕国防部长皮特·赫格塞思的弹劾对决——这是他选举失利后的首次重大权力测试——白宫明确发出警告，称计划在新的政治时代更大力行使行政权力。
目前几乎看不到悔意，也没有承认美国民众投票要求对唐纳德·特朗普总统施加约束。白宫的回应毫无保留，核心举措是任命斯蒂芬·米勒——特朗普最激进政策的缔造者——担任白宫幕僚长。
司法部长托德·布兰奇在周日上午的CNN节目中阐明了这一立场，他表示，民主党人若计划利用宪法权限调查政府，在特朗普命令司法部对他们展开刑事调查后，应当“感到担忧”。
在《国情咨文》节目的针锋相对采访中，政府及其反对派为明年划定了政治阵线。
“他们甚至还未掌权，就已在毫无依据、毫无事实的情况下谈论调查与弹劾，到处横冲直撞，”布兰奇告诉CNN的达娜·巴什，“这应当是特朗普总统非常担忧的事情，我当然也一样。”
但众议院监督委员会最高民主党人罗伯特·加西亚警告称，新一届民主党主导的国会不会屈服于布兰奇的“威胁”。“他正试图阻止我们开展真正的监督……宪法明确规定，国会的职责就是监督行政部门和政府，”加西亚表示。
不过，有关众议院可能投票弹劾赫格塞思的首次交锋，更多是在考验中期选举惨败对特朗普在共和党内部权威的打击程度，而非民主党约束他的能力。
共和党众议员托马斯·马西计划在本周提交针对赫格塞思的弹劾条款，与此同时，这位五角大楼首长正全力为保住职位造势，尽管他对伊朗战争的指挥方式引发了批评。
越来越多的迹象显示，即便许多共和党人也希望这位好斗的赫格塞思下台，尤其是在众议员詹姆斯·科默上周对他表示不满之后。与在初选中被特朗普派对手击败的同乡马西不同，科默至今仍忠于总统。
不过，白宫目前仍支持赫格塞思。特朗普上周告诉记者，他的国防部长“工作非常出色”。赫格塞思对米勒的任命做出回应，在社交媒体上发文称他是与总统敌人作战的战友，配文是“坚持。战斗。”
然而，赫格塞思的处境可能因共和党议员的强烈反对而恶化。那些因伊朗引发的公众愤怒而丢掉工作的人，或许没有太多动力与他和总统共进退。要在弹劾审判中达到参议院定罪并罢免他所需的三分之二多数，似乎不太可能。但他在参议院几乎没有盟友，而且当前政治局势动荡不安。
围绕赫格塞思的弹劾风波，正值共和党主导的跛脚鸭国会的最后阶段——该国会必须在12月11日前通过拨款法案以维持政府运转。这位国防部长的争议立场，也可能阻碍参议院通过关键的国防授权法案。
在民主党中期选举获胜后的最初几天里，特朗普似乎情绪低落。但如今看来，白宫显然想要一场争斗。
在周日CBS《60分钟》节目被问及是否可能原谅敌人时，特朗普回答：“我恐怕无法做到，不会的，因为我确实憎恨一些敌人，而且我会一直憎恨下去。”
周六，特朗普在Truth Social平台上抱怨民主党人向共和党人和捐赠者发送威胁信件，要求司法部调查他们，并声称这些“敲诈者”应当入狱。
上周，民主党参议员理查德·布隆塔尔向个人、企业和政府机构发出警告，要求配合调查“加密货币；特朗普政府自肥及国家安全威胁相关的腐败；联邦移民官员的猖獗不当行为；科技巨头及其他企业帮凶；以及特朗普政府违法滥用权力”。
布隆塔尔表示，如果永久调查小组在1月前未收到回复，新一届国会将采取行动。同样在上周，加西亚在一段视频中称“骗子、骗子和特朗普犯罪家族”需要“找律师准备应诉”。
布兰奇认为这种言辞过于极端。
“即将上任的委员会主席威胁他人——他们甚至还没掌权——就对特定的人说‘找律师准备应诉’。所以，如果这不让你感到困扰，如果不让你的观众感到困扰，那我们国家真的需要警醒了，因为这肯定让我感到困扰，”布兰奇告诉CNN。
这位司法部长表示，加西亚对他承诺为国会调查目标官员提供代理的批评，显示“对政府运作方式存在明显的误解”。他补充道：“如果我是该委员会的成员，我会非常担忧。”
但加西亚予以回击。“坦白说，托德·布兰奇现在的所作所为就是一种威胁，”他在《国情咨文》节目中说道。
“他威胁我们委员会，试图阻止我们开展真正的监督，”这位民主党籍加州议员就布兰奇的行为表示，他认为“他只想保护唐纳德·特朗普，保护唐纳德·特朗普的内阁和政府官员”。
布兰奇与加西亚的表态，为明年华盛顿的局势提供了preview，也预示着特朗普任期最后两年两党可能采取的风险。
政府暗示，任何针对政府的真正监督都是非法的；特朗普在Truth Social上称之为“武器化与法律战”。这一策略曾取得成功：他将针对其公司的调查、推翻2020年选举的努力以及保留机密材料的行为，包装成政治迫害的叙事，这团结了共和党，并帮助他在2024年重新掌权。如今他试图故技重施并不奇怪，因为当时担任他首席私人律师之一的布兰奇，正是其法律斗争的主要策划者。
共和党中期选举的败选是多方面因素导致的：伊朗战争、生活成本、飙升的油价、公众对移民管控的不满，以及人们认为特朗普追逐自身利益而非国家利益的看法。但政府正在展示，它计划充分利用特朗普任期的每一份权力。
越来越多的高级官员开始用相当末世论的措辞发声。周五在海湖庄园宣誓对特朗普“绝对忠诚”时，米勒警告说，如果没有总统，“美利坚合众国现在就不复存在了”。在为保住职位而发布的视频中，赫格塞思承诺捍卫共和国，抵御“所有内外敌人”。这一切都暗示，政府将一些国内对手视为企图摧毁国家的势力——而该国刚刚通过民主选举抛弃了现任统治者。
在堪萨斯州以惊人逆转获胜的民主党联邦参议员当选人亚当·汉密尔顿，对政府对选举的反应表示担忧。他形容米勒的任命是“几乎加倍加码”，并告诉CNN，“我所在的通常倾向保守的州，有人说‘这不行。这不是我们的样子。’”
不过，选举后的局势也凸显了即将上任的民主党多数党面临的挑战。虽然民主党将调查特朗普涉嫌腐败作为竞选核心主张，因此获得了授权，但选民主要发出的是解决生活成本问题的诉求。满足这些诉求难度极大，因为特朗普握有总统否决权。充满火药味的调查氛围可能会破坏任何合作的希望。
CNN政治评论员、前司法部高级官员肖奇特尔·伊诺霍萨告诉巴什，她“担心民主党可能会做得太过火”。
伊诺霍萨补充道：“我确实认为需要进行一些监督，因为对这个政府根本没有任何制衡。但两党都需要意识到，选民说的是‘我们不想要内斗。我们不想要共和党和民主党互相攻击。我们想要的是有人拿出成果。’”
周日激烈的政治交锋表明，这一目标将有多难实现。
Trump team interprets midterms debacle as a cue to go harder, further, faster
2026-11-09 / CNN
It’s as if the midterms never happened.
The Trump administration is heading into this week’s impeachment showdown over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — the first major test of the president’s power after his election debacle — with a clear warning that it plans to use executive authority with even greater force in the new political era.
There’s little sense of contrition or acknowledgment that Americans voted to impose restraints on President Donald Trump. The unequivocal White House response was instead represented by the appointment of Stephen Miller, the architect of many of Trump’s most aggressive policies, as White House chief of staff.
Attorney General Todd Blanche spelled out the message on CNN on Sunday morning, saying Democrats who plan to employ constitutional prerogatives to investigate the administration should be “worried” after Trump demanded Department of Justice criminal probes into their activity.
In dueling interviews on “State of the Union,” the administration and its critics laid down political battle lines for next year.
“Before they’re even in power, they’re already talking about investigations and impeachments, with no basis, no facts, just out there running around,” Blanche told CNN’s Dana Bash. “That should be something that President Trump is very concerned about, and certainly I am as well.”
But Robert Garcia, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, warned the new Democratic Congress would not cow before a “threat” from Blanche. “He’s trying to stop us from doing real oversight. … The Constitution makes it very clear that it’s our job in the Congress to conduct oversight of the executive and the administration,” Garcia said.
But the first confrontation, over a potential House of Representatives vote to impeach Hegseth, will do more to test how the midterm wipeout has hurt Trump’s authority among Republicans than Democrats’ capacity to restrain him.
Republican Rep. Thomas Massie plans to bring articles of impeachment against Hegseth this week as the Pentagon chief intensifies a vehement campaign to keep his job despite criticism of his conduct of the Iran war.
There are growing suggestions that even many Republicans would like the combative Hegseth gone, especially after Rep. James Comer expressed reservations about him last week. Comer, unlike his fellow Kentuckian Massie, who was beaten by a pro-Trump rival in his primary, remains loyal to the president.
The White House is standing by Hegseth, so far. Trump told reporters last week his defense secretary was doing “a very good job.” And Hegseth reacted to Miller’s promotion by portraying him as a fellow fighter against the president’s enemies with a social media post reading “Stand. Fight.”
Hegseth’s viability, however, could be undermined by a strong vote against him by GOP members. Those who’ve lost their jobs amid public fury over Iran may have little incentive to stand strong with him and the president. It seems unlikely that there will be the two-thirds majority in the Senate needed to convict and remove Hegseth from office in an impeachment trial. But he’s made few friends in the Senate, and these are volatile political days.
The Hegseth impeachment drama will unfold against the last rites of the lame-duck Republican-led Congress, which must pass a funding bill by December 11 to keep the government open. The defense secretary’s controversial presence may also complicate the Senate passage of a critical defense spending bill.
In the first days after the Democrats’ midterm rout, Trump seemed subdued. But now it’s clear the White House wants a fight.
Asked on Sunday’s edition of CBS’ “60 Minutes” whether he could ever forgive his enemies, Trump answered: “I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies and I always will.”
On Saturday, Trump complained on Truth Social that Democrats had sent threatening letters to Republicans and donors and ordered the Justice Department to investigate them, while claiming “these extortionists” should be imprisoned.
Last week, Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal issued a warning to individuals, companies and government agencies to cooperate with investigations into “cryptocurrency; corruption involving the Trump Administration’s self-enrichment and national security threats; rampant misconduct by federal immigration agents; Big Tech and other corporate enablers; and the Trump Administration’s lawless abuse of power.”
Blumenthal said that if the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations did not get responses by January, the new Congress would act. Also last week, Garcia said in a video that “crooks, the con men and the Trump crime family” need to “lawyer up.”
Blanche argued that such rhetoric goes too far.
“You have an incoming chairman threatening … they’re not even in charge yet — saying, ‘Lawyer up’ to anybody in particular. So, if that doesn’t bother you, if that doesn’t bother your viewers, then we really need to kind of wake up in this country, because it certainly bothers me,” Blanche told CNN.
The attorney general said Garcia’s complaints about his own vow to represent officials targeted by congressional investigations showed “a remarkable lack of understanding of how government works.” He added: “I would be very worried if I was a member on that committee.”
But Garcia hit back. “Quite frankly, what Todd Blanche is doing right now is a threat,” he said on “State of the Union.”
“He is threatening our committee. He’s trying to stop us from doing real oversight,” the California Democrat said of Blanche, arguing that “all he wants to do is protect Donald Trump, is protect Donald Trump’s Cabinet and administration officials.”
The appearances by Blanche and Garcia gave a preview of Washington next year and the risks both parties are likely to take during Trump’s last two years in office.
The administration is implying that any true oversight of the administration is illegitimate; what Trump called “Weaponization and Lawfare” on Truth Social. This strategy was successful when Trump leveraged investigations into his company, his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and his retention of classified material into a narrative of political persecution that unified Republicans and helped him to reclaim the presidency in 2024. It’s not surprising that he’s trying to turn the same trick now, since Blanche, then one of his top personal lawyers, was a chief architect of his legal fight.
The Republicans’ midterm election defeat was about many things: the Iran war, the cost of living, soaring gas prices, public distaste with immigration crackdowns, and a sense Trump pursues his own interests over the country’s. But the administration is showing it plans to wring every ounce of power from Trump’s term.
Increasingly, top officials are speaking in rather apocalyptic terms. As he professed his “total devotion” and “absolute loyalty” to Trump at Mar-a-Lago on Friday, Miller warned that if it weren’t for the president, “the United States of America would not exist right now.” In his videos fighting for his job, Hegseth pledges to defend the republic against “all enemies, foreign and domestic.” All this implies the administration sees some domestic opponents as bent on destroying the country — which just voted in a democratic election to repudiate its current rulers.
Democratic Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton, who won a stunning upset victory in Kansas, expressed concern about the administration’s response to the elections. He described Miller’s appointment as “almost a doubling down” and told CNN that “people in my state, which is typically a pretty red state, have said, ‘This is not OK. This is not who we are.’”
But the aftermath of the elections also underscores the challenges facing the incoming Democratic majority. While Democrats made investigating Trump’s alleged corruption a centerpiece of their campaigns, and therefore have a mandate, voters primarily issued a cry for help with the cost of living. Acting on such concerns will be difficult enough, since Trump is armed with a presidential veto. A bitter climate of investigations could poison any hope of cooperation.
Xochitl Hinojosa, a CNN political commentator and former senior Justice Department official, told Bash she is “worried the Democrats will overreach.”
Hinojosa added: “I do think that there needs to be some oversight, because there have been no checks on this administration whatsoever. But both parties need to realize that the voters said, ‘We do not want infighting. We do not want Republicans and Democrats going at each other. What we want is people to deliver results.’”
Sunday’s fierce political exchanges show how hard that will be.
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