14次投票失敗
Kevin McCarthy was finally elected as speaker of the House after four days of political gridlock and 14 failed ballots.
經過4天的政治僵局和14次投票失敗，麥卡錫最終當選為眾議院議長。
ballot(n.)投票=voting
The California Republican assumed the role of the 55th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives on January 7, ending the longest election for the position since 1860.
這位加州共和黨人於1月7日就任美國眾議院第55任議長，結束了自1860年以來最漫長的眾議院議長選舉。
assume(v.)擔任(職務)=take upspeaker(n.)(議會等立法機構的)議長Speaker of the House of Representatives眾議院議長
The process to elect a new speaker of the House began at the start of the 118th Congress on January 3.
選舉新眾議院議長的過程始於1月3日第118屆國會會期開始時。
In order to be elected, McCarthy needed to receive a majority of the total votes, excluding representatives wishing to abstain by simply voting “present.”
為了當選，麥卡錫需要獲得總票數的多數，不包括希望透過只投「出席」而棄權的眾議員票數。
majority(n.)多數票exclude(v.)把…排除在外、不包括abstain(v.) 棄權
However, even with Republicans owning only a narrow majority of seats in the House of Representatives over the Democrats following November’s midterm elections, voting took so long due to the dissent of right-wing members of McCarthy’s own party.
然而，即便共和黨在11月的期中選舉後在眾議院比民主黨多出幾席，由於與麥卡錫同黨的右派共和黨黨員的異議，投票花了很長的一段時間。
narrow majority勉強的多數midterm elections期中選舉dissent(n.)不同意、異議right-wing(adj.)(政治上的)右翼的、右派的left-wing(adj.)左翼的、左派的
Over the course of the grueling four days, McCarthy was forced to make concessions with a small group of Republicans to win their votes.
在艱辛的四天裡，麥卡錫被迫向一小群共和黨人讓步，以贏得他們的選票。
over the course of…在…之中;在…時間裡grueling(adj.)使人精疲力盡的;艱辛的make a concession讓步、妥協
In the first three ballots, 19 Republican holdouts split their votes among other nominees for the House speaker post.
在前三輪投票中，19名共和黨的頑固反對派將他們的選票分配給其他角逐議長職位的候選人。
holdout(n.)堅持、不退讓、拒絕合作(的人)、拒絕達成協議者
With the number of these defectors slowly decreasing until the 15th ballot, McCarthy was finally able to gain 50.5% of the 428 votes cast, with six members voting “present.”
後來隨著這些叛離者的人數逐漸減少，直到第15輪投票，麥卡錫終於能夠獲得428張有效票中的50.5％，其中有6名成員投下「出席票」。
defector(n.)叛國者、背叛者defectors from North Korea脫北者cast a vote投票
Throughout this process, Democrat Hakeem Jeffries received the full support of his party, but was unable to reach the majority threshold due to Republicans only voting for members of their own party or abstaining.
在整個選舉過程中，民主黨黨員傑佛瑞斯得到了所屬政黨的全力支持，但由於共和黨人只投票給本黨成員或棄權，因此傑佛瑞斯無法達到多數門檻。
threshold(n.)門檻
Despite finally emerging victorious, McCarthy’s “significant concessions to his right flank…will make him constantly vulnerable to challenge.”
儘管最終取得了勝利，但麥卡錫「對右翼的重大讓步……將使他經常受到挑戰。」
emerge(v.)(從困境中)擺脫出來、存活下來victorious(adj.)勝利的;獲勝的;成功的flank(n.)側面、側翼vulnerable to 易受到⋯⋯的傷害、影響
In fact, several high-profile Donald Trump supporters, including Republican representatives Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz, continued to oppose McCarthy throughout the voting, choosing to abstain during the 15th ballot even with Trump urging them to back McCarthy.
事實上，幾位備受矚目的川普支持者，包括共和黨議員波伯特和蓋茨，在整個投票過程中持續反對麥卡錫，即便川普呼籲他們支持麥卡錫，他們也選擇在第15輪投票中棄權。
urge sb. to do sth.呼籲某人做某事
Labeled “embarrassing” by President Biden, some Republicans championed the drawn-out process as both “transparent” and potentially beneficial to the operations of the House due to the concessions won from McCarthy for their support.
被拜登總統貼上「令人尷尬」標籤的一些共和黨人主張，這個曠日持久的過程既「透明」，又可能有利於眾議院的運作，因為麥卡錫為了爭取支持向他們讓步。
label(n.)標籤(v.)貼標籤champion(v.)支持;擁護drawn-out(adj.)拖延的、持續很久的