President Barack Obama kicked off a fierce election year battle with Republicans by nominating a centrist judge to the Supreme Court and warning his political foes against acting on threats to block him.
美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)在选举年启动了一场对共和党人的战争。他提名一位持中间立场的法官进入美国最高法院，并警告他的政治对手，不要威胁阻止他。
Mr Obama on Wednesday named Merrick Garland, 63, to replace Antonin Scalia, a conservative justice who died last month, deliberately choosing an appeals court judge who has in the past won praise from Republicans.
周三，奥巴马提名63岁的梅里克•加兰(Merrick Garland)进入最高法院，取代上月去世的保守派法官安东宁•斯卡利亚(Antonin Scalia)的位置。他故意挑选了一名过去曾赢得共和党人赞扬的上诉法院法官。
The vacancy left by Scalia has thrust the Supreme Court into the heart of acrimonious election year politics, putting up for grabs the ideological tilt of an institution with a profound influence on American government and society.
斯卡利亚留下的空缺，把最高法院推入了尖锐的大选年政治斗争的中心，使这家对美国政府和社会具有深远影响力的机构的意识形态倾向成为争夺对象。
Senate Republicans on Wednesday reiterated their determination to block any nominee in Mr Obama’s final year in office, insisting that voters should be given a say by allowing the next president to fill the vacancy.
共和党参议员周三重申，他们决心阻止奥巴马在总统任期最后一年提名的任何人选。他们坚称，应当给予选民们发言权，让下一任总统来提名最高法院空缺人选。
Announcing his pick in the White House Rose Garden, Mr Obama urged Republicans to rethink and fulfil what he described as their constitutional duty by considering Mr Garland instead of treating him as a “political piñata”.
在白宫玫瑰园公布自己的提名人选时，奥巴马敦促共和党人三思，履行他所描述的共和党人的宪法责任，对加兰进行考察，而不是把他视为一个“政治玩偶”。
Mr Garland — who is likely to be given a rough ride by some Republicans — is the chief judge at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia circuit, a regular stepping stone to the top court where Scalia also served.
目前，加兰是美国哥伦比亚特区联邦巡回上诉法院(US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit)的首席法官，这是通往最高法院的跳板。斯卡利亚也曾担任该职务。
A White House official noted that Mr Garland was confirmed as an appeals court judge with majority support from both parties when he was nominated in 1997 by President Bill Clinton.
一位白宫官员指出，1997年加兰获得时任总统比尔•克林顿(Bill Clinton)提名担任上诉法院法官时，曾得到了两党的多数支持。
In 2010 Orrin Hatch, a senior Republican senator, described him as a “consensus nominee” for the Supreme Court when he was considered for a vacancy that year.
2010年，当最高法院出现空缺时，资深共和党参议员奥林•哈奇(Orrin Hatch)把加林描述为一名“共识候选人”。
But Mr Hatch, the longest-serving member of the Senate judiciary committee, quickly shot down any hope of Republicans agreeing to hold hearings, let alone a vote, on Mr Garland’s nomination.
但是，在参议院司法委员会(Senate judiciary committee)任职时间最长的委员哈奇，很快就浇灭了共和党人同意就提名加兰举行听证会（投票就更不必说）的希望。
Scalia’s death ended a conservative majority that held sway on the court for a quarter of a century, leaving it split 4-4 between the remaining conservatives and their liberal counterparts, who face landmark cases on immigration, abortion and healthcare.
斯卡利亚的去世，终结了持续四分之一个世纪的保守派在最高法院占多数的局面。保守派和自由派法官的比例变成4比4。
Republicans do not want Mr Obama to tilt its balance leftward, but they are taking a gamble that a member of their own party will win November’s presidential election and appoint another conservative.
共和党人不希望奥巴马把最高法院的倾向推到左翼，但他们是在押注，共和党人将赢得11月的总统大选，然后再为最高法院提名一位保守派人士。
If the Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton won the White House and the Senate flipped into Democratic hands, she could feel empowered to nominate a justice more liberal than Mr Garland.
如果民主党领跑者希拉里•克林顿(Hillary Clinton)入主白宫，并且参议院落入民主党手中，她可能感觉有能力提名一位比加兰更倾向自由派的法官。
Mrs Clinton praised Mr Garland in a statement on Wednesday and urged the Senate to give him “a full and fair hearing followed by a vote”.
周三，希拉里在声明中称赞了加兰，并敦促参议院就他获提名“进行一次全面、公正的听证，然后再投票表决”。