美国国家公共电台 NPR Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan Is Out

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The turnover¹ in the Trump² administration keeps churning on. Tonight the latest news is that acting³ Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan is out. He has served in this position since the spring of this year. He took over after Kirstjen Nielsen resigned in April. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordo帽ez joins us to talk about this latest departure.

Hi, Franco.

FRANCO ORDO脩EZ, BYLINE⁴: Hello.

SHAPIRO: There's a bit of a delay on the line. But to begin with, what can you tell us about why McAleenan is out?

ORDO脩EZ: Well, President Trump tweeted out. He said this news. He said that McAleenan did an outstanding job, that they had a good working relationship, that he is proud of the work that he did but that he want - that Kevin - and he used his first name - wanted to spend more time with his family.

SHAPIRO: He also said he was going to go into the private sector⁵. As we mentioned, he was in this acting role for less than a year. How much was he able to accomplish in that time?

ORDO脩EZ: Well, we do know that, you know, it was a challenging time. He actually accomplished⁶ quite a bit in regards to issues that were important to President Trump. Those included getting Mexico to boost enforcement on its southern border to help stop or slow the flow of immigrants north. And he also got Guatemala and other countries to carry out agreements - to enter into agreements that would require asylum⁷-seekers to seek asylum and ask for asylum in those countries instead of the United States. Those were very significant.

SHAPIRO: We saw so much controversy⁸ involving the Department of Homeland Security play out in the public space (inaudible). Privately⁹, do you know if there were tensions between McAleenan and President Trump as there were with so many people who have left the Trump administration?

ORDO脩EZ: Yeah. I mean, there has - as you know, there have been so much tension. He came in under the most difficult circumstances at the time when President Trump was literally¹⁰ going through a purge¹¹ of the department, as you noted¹² earlier. He pushed out Secretary Nielsen and other top officials. And when Kevin McAleenan came in, from the start, he was drawing scrutiny¹³ from hard-liners who were close to President Trump and were very concerned about McAleenan and his ties to the Obama administration, where McAleenan had served before. Many did not feel that he was tough enough. And look. McAleenan - in an interview with The Washington Post, he actually complained about the conditions of his - where he was working. He complained about the tone, the message. He had concerns about the public face and approach of the nation's immigration policy. He said he tried to keep it a neutral agency, but that was really impossible. Just tonight, after the news broke, I spoke¹⁴ to David Lapan, who was the press secretary for DHS earlier in the administration. And he said it's simply an impossible job right now, considering the outside expectations that President Trump has put on it. And if the measure of success is stopping immigrants from even coming to the border, then that is just not going to be achievable.

SHAPIRO: Well, given how high that bar is for whoever the new Homeland Security secretary - acting or otherwise - happens to be, any guess of who that would be and when we would find out? - just briefly¹⁵.

ORDO脩EZ: We don't know who that will be. President Trump did tweet out, though, that he would be naming a new acting secretary next week.

SHAPIRO: NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordo帽ez, thank you.

ORDO脩EZ: Thank you.

1 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

6 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

7 asylum   

n.避难所，庇护所，避难

参考例句：

• The people ask for political asylum.人们请求政治避难。
• Having sought asylum in the West for many years,they were eventually granted it.他们最终获得了在西方寻求多年的避难权。

8 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

9 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

10 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

11 purge   

n.整肃，清除，泻药，净化；vt.净化，清除，摆脱；vi.清除，通便，腹泻，变得清洁

参考例句：

• The new president carried out a purge of disloyal army officers.新总统对不忠诚的军官进行了清洗。
• The mayoral candidate has promised to purge the police department.市长候选人答应清洗警察部门。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

14 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。