Cheers And Jeers: Tuesday

“President Trump moved to obliterate the outer bounds of executive power Monday, igniting a series of constitutional showdowns that could curtail — or enable — his vision for a maximalist second term,” Axios reports. “Within hours of taking office, Trump dared the courts, Congress and his fragmented opposition to stand in the way of what could be his most enduring legacy: a radical expansion of presidential power.” David Sanger: “Wiser about the use of power, the newly sworn-in president suggests that this time he will not take no for an answer, whether in enacting an ambitious domestic agenda or in his expansionist worldview.”

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) dismissed speculation he might switch parties as “amateur hour shit,” Semafor reports. Said Fetterman: “It’s not gonna happen. And even if I wanted to do that, that is a rocket sled to Palookaville to try to switch. I would make a pretty bad Republican.”

“President Trump’s reasons for wanting control of the Panama Canal can be found at either end of the interoceanic waterway,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Every day, dozens of cargo ships pass by blue cranes at a port near the Pacific Ocean entrance, the towering skyline of Panama City visible across the horizon.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) told Politico that the border crisis lost Democrats the election, and that he may keep voting with Republicans on migration issues. Said Gallego: “There has been this misunderstanding about where Latinos are when it comes to border and border security.”

“Deportation raids that were set to begin in at least one sanctuary city the day after President Trump’s inauguration are on hold for now after an effort to keep the element of surprise,” the New York Post reports. Said Trump aide Stephen Miller on X: “All illegal aliens seeking entry into the United States should turn back now.

John Harris: “In one light, it was all quite familiar. But the second occasion of Trump taking the oath of office also put him in an entirely new light. For the first time, he is holding power under circumstances in which reasonable people cannot deny a basic fact: He is the greatest American figure of his era.” “Let’s quickly exhale: Great in this context is not about a subjective debate over whether he is a singularly righteous leader or a singularly menacing one.