2026-08-04T18:18:34.887Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
针对俄亥俄州众议员马克斯·米勒的前妻提出的一系列恶劣指控，要求他终止连任竞选的压力正越来越大。
但针对另一名共和党国会议员的最新进展凸显出，共和党人凭借微弱优势掌控众议院多数席位的政治局势正变得何等棘手——以及未来几周他们可能需要多么小心翼翼地拿捏分寸。
米勒、北卡罗来纳州众议员查克·爱德华兹和佛罗里达州众议员科里·米尔斯都面临令人担忧的指控（三人都否认有不当行为）。这三人所代表的选区在2024年大选中都为唐纳德·特朗普赢得了约10个百分点的支持率——换句话说，这些选区他们可能会输掉，尤其是在全国范围内对共和党不利的年份。
但尽管共和党可能希望这些议员终止竞选，考虑到众议院中共和党218票对212票的微弱多数席位优势，他们或许更希望这些议员不要辞职。
不过，这些指控的性质——以及越来越多的相关指控——可能使得要求辞职的压力难以避免，尤其是如果这些指控有可能给共和党在秋季选举前带来不利舆论的话。
除了米勒事件引发的持续发酵，周一的重大新闻还有众议院道德委员会发布了一份关于爱德华兹的报告，其中建议众议院对他进行谴责——这是自2010年以来该委员会首次对其一名成员提出此类建议。
这个两党联合委员会发现了“确凿证据”，证明爱德华兹曾对两名年轻女性工作人员做出不受欢迎的举动，包括向她们赠送大量礼物以及施加不受欢迎的关注。
米尔斯也面临着一项长期的道德调查，部分原因是有人指控他性侵一名女性，并威胁要传播另一名女性的色情视频和图片。尽管这一事件已经从全国新闻头条中淡出，但由于米勒和爱德华兹的事件，它可能会获得更多关注。
到目前为止，三名议员都坚持立场，其中声称不会放弃连任竞选的米勒甚至在周二表示，他将采取不同寻常的举措，要求众议院道德委员会对他进行调查，以证明自己的清白。这位俄亥俄州议员表示，他的前妻（俄亥俄州共和党参议员伯尼·莫雷诺的女儿，莫雷诺最近表示米勒“不应该在国会任职”）编造了他否认的虐待指控。
共和党领导层在如何处理针对米勒的指控上存在分歧，一些人呼吁他终止竞选，另一些人则回避这一情况。特朗普周一拒绝发表评论，甚至称赞米勒是个好人，但似乎私下暗示米勒可能需要退出竞选。
与此同时，爱德华兹强调，周一的道德报告并未发现他与助手发生性行为或直接向助手提出性要求。米尔斯则声称针对他的指控是出于政治动机。
但随着共和党人面临看起来相当艰难的中期选举，越来越多人担心针对这些议员的指控会危及他们的席位。
“在正常年份，这些选区不会对共和党构成脆弱风险，”库克政治报告的戴维·瓦茨曼周一在CNN的《艾琳·伯内特前线》节目中表示，“但现在不是正常情况，也不是正常年份。特朗普总统在这三个选区的支持率都处于水下。”
历史佐证了这些选区可能会陷入竞争的观点。
2018年8月，两名共和党国会议员——时任纽约州众议员克里斯·柯林斯和加利福尼亚州众议员邓肯·亨特——遭到起诉。
两人都在当年11月赢得连任，但柯林斯在特朗普2016年以25个百分点优势拿下的选区中，仅以不到1个百分点的优势获胜。亨特则在特朗普以15个百分点优势拿下的选区中，仅以4个百分点的优势获胜。
2006年，宾夕法尼亚州共和党时任众议员唐·舍伍德在与一名指控他性侵的前情妇达成和解后，寻求连任。尽管他所在的选区在2004年乔治·W·布什以20个百分点优势拿下，但他最终以6个百分点的差距落败。
所有这些结果都表明，在某些情况下，米勒、爱德华兹和米尔斯所在的这类选区可能会变得脆弱。
对共和党来说，问题在于，尽管让这些议员退出连任竞选可能是更可取的选择，但他们中有三人意味着共和党可能不希望他们现在就辞职。毕竟，辞职可能会削弱本已微弱的多数席位优势，这已经给领导层推动特朗普的议程带来了频繁的麻烦。
2023年，一些党内人士抵制呼吁驱逐纽约州众议员乔治·桑托斯，今年早些时候也抵制呼吁德克萨斯州众议员托尼·冈萨雷斯辞职，原因正是如此。
冈萨雷斯曾与一名后来自杀的工作人员有染，今年4月在面临被驱逐的威胁时最终辞职。但共和党人似乎是在民主党众议员埃里克·斯沃韦尔因涉嫌性侵辞职，导致两党都失去一个席位后，才开始支持驱逐议员。或许进一步说明了共和党人对席位减少的犹豫，米尔斯当时尽管面临公开指控，却避免了同样的被罢免压力。
鉴于冈萨雷斯和斯沃韦尔的先例，共和党人似乎很难要求这些议员终止竞选，却同时允许他们继续留任国会。例如，为什么针对米勒的指控严重到足以让他终止竞选，但仍允许他继续任职？
如果共和党决定需要将米勒赶下台，那么他们很可能会面临一个问题：米尔斯和爱德华兹的情况有何不同。共和党领导层此前在米尔斯的问题上已经走过一次这样的钢丝，但任何试图捍卫多数席位的政党都不想花时间去解释指控之间的差异，以及为什么一种情况达到了需要采取行动的程度，而另一种情况却没有。
共和党人还不得不面对他们最近在斯沃韦尔和民主党缅因州参议院候选人格雷厄姆·普拉特纳被指控性侵时发表的言论。（两人都一再否认指控。）
就普拉特纳而言，共和党人抨击民主党在一系列个人指控，包括后来的性侵指控（普拉特纳否认此事）之前，未能要求普拉特纳退出竞选。民主党在性侵指控提出后迅速将普拉特纳排除出候选人名单。
而当斯沃韦尔和冈萨雷斯辞职时，共和党众议院议长迈克·约翰逊表示两人都做出了正确的决定。
“我已经表明了对这些可怕指控的看法，显然他们两人都承认了事实，我认为这是恰当的做法，”约翰逊告诉CNN。
事实上，在这些情况下，性行为不端或虐待的指控往往会受到更严肃、更紧迫的对待。
而现在，共和党人需要尽快弄清楚该如何应对这些指控。
Allegations against several GOP congressmen highlight the party’s quandary
2026-08-04T18:18:34.887Z / CNN
Pressure is growing on Rep. Max Miller to end his reelection campaign amid an ugly series of allegations from the Ohio congressman’s ex-wife.
But new developments concerning another GOP congressman underscore how dicey the political situation is becoming for Republicans clinging to a narrow House majority — and how fine a line they might need to walk in the weeks to come.
Miller, North Carolina Rep. Chuck Edwards and Florida Rep. Cory Mills are all facing concerning accusations (they all deny wrongdoing). All three represent districts President Donald Trump won by around 10 points in 2024 — in other words, districts they could lose, especially if it’s a bad year for Republicans nationally.
But while the GOP might want these lawmakers to end their campaigns, they would probably prefer they don’t resign, given how tight the party’s 218-212 majority is in the House.
Still, the nature of the allegations — and the growing set of them — could make the pressure to resign tough to avoid, particularly if the accusations risk feeding an unhelpful narrative for the GOP heading into the fall.
In addition to the growing Miller fallout, the big news Monday was that the House Ethics Committee released a report about Edwards, in which it recommended the House censure him — the first time since 2010 the panel recommended that for one of its members.
The bipartisan committee found “substantial evidence” that Edwards had made unwanted advances toward two young female staffers, including by showering them with gifts and unwanted attention.
Mills also faces a lingering ethics investigation related, in part, to allegations of assaulting a woman and threatening to disseminate sexually explicit videos and images of another woman. While the story has faded from national headlines, it may get more attention thanks to the Miller and Edwards situations.
All three lawmakers are so far standing their ground, with Miller — who says he won’t drop his reelection bid — even saying Tuesday he’s taking the unusual step of asking the House Ethics Committee to investigate him in an effort to clear his name. The Ohio congressman says his ex-wife (who is the daughter of Ohio GOP Sen. Bernie Moreno, who recently said Miller “should not serve” in Congress) made up the abuse claims that he denies.
GOP leaders have been split on how to handle the allegations with Miller, with some calling for him to end his campaign but others steering clear of the situation. Trump declined to pass judgment Monday and even praised Miller as a person, but appears to be privately hinting that Miller might need to drop out.
Edwards, meanwhile, emphasized that Monday’s ethics report did not find he engaged in sexual activity with or directly propositioned the aides. And Mills has claimed the allegations against him are politically motivated.
But as Republicans confront what looks to be a pretty tough midterm election, there is increasing worry that the allegations against these lawmakers will jeopardize their seats.
“(The districts) wouldn’t be vulnerable for Republicans in a normal year,” David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report said Monday on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.” “But these are not normal circumstances, and this is not a normal year. President Trump’s approval rating in all three seats is underwater.”
History backs up the notion that these seats could be in play.
Two GOP congressmen, then-Reps. Chris Collins of New York and Duncan Hunter of California, were indicted in August 2018.
Both won that November, but Collins won by less than 1 point in a district Trump had carried by 25 points in 2016. And Hunter won by just 4 points in a district Trump had carried by 15 points.
In 2006, Pennsylvania GOP then-Rep. Don Sherwood ran for reelection after reaching a settlement with a former mistress who accused him of assault. He wound up losing by 6 points, despite running in a district George W. Bush had carried by 20 points in 2004.
All of those results suggest districts like Miller’s, Edwards’ and Mills’ could be vulnerable under certain circumstances.
The problem for Republicans is that while it might be preferable for these lawmakers to bow out of their reelection campaigns, the fact that there are three of them means the party might not want them to resign right now. Resigning, after all, could shrink a majority that’s already so small it’s caused frequent headaches for leadership trying to enact Trump’s agenda.
Some in the party resisted calling for the expulsion of Rep. George Santos of New York in 2023 and the resignation of Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas earlier this year for precisely that reason.
Gonzales, who had an affair with a staffer who later died by suicide, eventually resigned in April in the face of his own expulsion threat. But Republicans only seemed to embrace expulsion after Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell’s resignation for alleged sexual assault meant both parties were losing a seat. Perhaps further illustrating Republicans’ hesitance over their dwindling numbers, Mills avoided the same type of removal pressure at the time, despite the public accusations against him.
Given the Gonzales and Swalwell precedents, it would seem difficult for Republicans to tell these lawmakers to drop their campaigns but not exit Congress. Why would the allegations against Miller, for example, be bad enough to end his campaign but still allow him to keep serving?
And if the party decides Miller needs to be pushed out, it would likely face questions about what’s different about Mills and Edwards. GOP leaders already walked this tightrope once on Mills, but no party trying to defend its majority wants to be spending time answering questions about the differences between the allegations and why one situation rises to that level, but another doesn’t.
Republicans also have to contend with the things they said very recently when Swalwell and Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner were accused of sexual assault. (Both men have repeatedly denied the accusations.)
In the case of Platner, Republicans pilloried Democrats for failing to call for Platner’s exit amid a series of personal accusations before the allegation of sexual assault. (Democrats quickly pushed out Platner after the rape allegation that he denies.)
And when Swalwell and Gonzales resigned, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson said both had made the right decision.
“My views have been made known about the terrible allegations that were made and obviously the facts that they both admitted to and I believe it was the appropriate thing,” Johnson told CNN.
Indeed, allegations of a sexual misconduct or abuse have often been treated more seriously and urgently in these circumstances.
And now Republicans need to figure out how to treat them in a hurry.