纽约时报 特朗普一意孤行 政府势必继续停摆(4)（在线收听）

The Senate on Friday voted 48 to 47, with Mr. Pence breaking a tie, to begin debate on that legislation.

周五，参议院以48票对47票的投票结果通过了该法案，彭斯打破僵局率先开始就该法案展开了辩论。

But leaders of both parties agreed that the vote was largely meaningless and that the House bill had no chance of passing the Senate,

不过，两党领导人还是一致认为，这次投票基本上毫无意义，众议院的法案也没有机会在参议院通过，

because Republicans could not get help from Democrats to muster the 60 votes required under Senate rules.

因为共和党人无法从民主党人那里得到帮助，从而获得规定的60张赞成票。

That sent White House and congressional officials back to the negotiating table.

为此，白宫和国会官员再次回到了谈判桌上。

With Mr. Trump publicly sticking to his demand of $5 billion for a wall — or, as he said on Twitter on Friday, “artistically designed steel slats” —

虽然特朗普公开坚称边境墙，或者说他周五在推特上所说的“设计颇具艺术感的钢条”，需要50亿美元的资金——

there were a number of potential compromises that would have forced him to drop it,

然而，许多潜在的妥协原本都可能迫使他放弃这一项目，

by perhaps leaving out spending on a wall while instead beefing up spending on other security measures at the border,

让他把资金用在增加在边境其他安全措施上的开支上，而不是花在修建边境墙上，

according to people with knowledge of the talks.

据知情人士透露。

Among the options discussed behind closed doors were proposals that would allocate anywhere from $1.6 billion to $2.5 billion to border security,

在封闭讨论的备选方案中，有一部分提议是拨款16亿至25亿美元用于边境安全，

none of which could be spent on a wall.

但这些钱都不能花在修筑边境墙上。

But it was not clear that conservatives in the House, who insisted on Thursday on adding the $5.7 billion for the barrier the president has demanded, would back that solution.

但目前还不清楚众议院的保守派，他们周四坚持要增加57亿美元来满足总统修墙的要求，是否会支持这一解决方案。

Lawmakers were exasperated and eager to head home.

议员们气得急于回家了。

Some held out hope that Democrats would meet the White House halfway on Mr. Trump’s $5 billion demand.

一些人表示，他们希望，针对特朗普提出的50亿美元的需求，民主党和白宫能各让一步。

Democrats in the Senate have offered, at various points, $1.3 billion or $1.6 billion for border security, including fencing — but not a wall.

参议院的民主党人前前后后多次表示愿意拨款13亿到16亿用于边境安全——但不能用来修墙。

“This has been the interesting challenge,” Senator James Lankford, Republican of Oklahoma, told CNN on Saturday morning.

“这是一个有趣的挑战，”俄克拉荷马州共和党参议员詹姆斯·兰福德周六上午接受CNN采访时表示。

He added, “I think there’s a general agreement now that we need to do border security; now it’s figuring out the amount.”

他接着说说：“我认为，现在双方已经就需要加强边境安全一事达成了一项大体的协议；现在的问题是具体的拨款金额。

The government will incur significant costs in an extended shutdown,

政府长时间停摆将会带来巨大的成本，

as furloughed employees are eventually repaid for time not worked,

因为休假的员工最终还是会拿到休假那段时间的工资，

and officials spend unproductive time dealing with the closing.

而官员们则要为处理停摆事宜白白浪费很多时间。

And the effects will spread over time.

这种影响会随着时间的推移越扩越大。

The Smithsonian Institution said it had enough money stored away

史密森学会表示，他们已经储存了足够的钱，

that its museums, as well as the National Zoo in Washington, could remain open through Jan. 1.

让他们的博物馆，还有华盛顿的国家动物园，一直开放到明年1月1日。

Even agencies that remained open, though, said they may need to curb their operations.

不过，有些机构即便仍在营业，还是觉得自己可能需要缩减业务范围。

The National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Fla., for example, said that it would still issue its usual predictions and alerts,

例如，佛罗里达州塔拉哈西的国家气象局办公室就表示他们仍会发布通常的预测和警告，

but that it would limit social media posts “to subjects that are directly related to forecasts and warnings.”

但会减少社交媒体上有关“仅限于与预测和警告直接相关的主题”的帖子的发布。

In Windsor Locks, Conn., a Transportation Security Administration agent stacked plastic bins at Bradley International Airport late Friday.

周五晚些时候，在康涅狄格州温莎洛克斯，一名运输安全管理局特工在布拉德利国际机场堆放塑料垃圾桶。

The agent, Daniel Defosse, said he wasn’t too upset that he would be working without pay.

特工丹尼尔·德福斯说，他不会因为要无偿工作太难过。

“It’s a job. It comes with the territory, honestly,” he said.

“这是我的工作，我理应留下来继续工作，”他说。

Still, he added, “it’s not going to be fun, but we’ve got to do it.”

尽管如此，他还是说，“这样并没有什么意思，但我们必须这样做。”