Washington Post: “In the hours since President Trump sacked James Comey as FBI director, the splashiest headlines have gone to Republican critics of the move… But for most elected Republicans, and on conservative-leaning media, the story last night and today has been a cut-and-dry case of Democratic Party hypocrisy. Despite the White House’s deer-in-headlights PR response to questions, most of the president’s allies have robustly defended him, syncing up with the preferred story line that the president did what most Americans had been craving.”

John Cassidy: “At a time like this, it is important to express things plainly. On Tuesday evening, Donald Trump acted like a despot. Without warning or provocation, he summarily fired the independent-minded director of the F.B.I., James Comey. Comey had been overseeing an investigation into whether there was any collusion between Trump’s Presidential campaign and the government of Russia. With Comey out of the way, Trump can now pick his own man (or woman) to run the Bureau, and this person will have the authority to close down that investigation.”

“That is what has happened. It amounts to a premeditated and terrifying attack on the American system of government. Quite possibly, it will usher in a constitutional crisis. Even if it doesn’t, it represents the most unnerving turn yet in what is a uniquely unnerving Presidency.”

“Things like this are not supposed to happen in a liberal democracy, especially in one that takes pride, as the United States does, in safeguards put in place against the arbitrary exercise of power.”

For members: Will Republicans Step Up to Protect Our Democracy?

James Hohmann: “Trump doesn’t grasp it yet, but firing Comey will only lead to more, and louder, questions about Russia, as well as what exactly Trump knew about Flynn and when he knew it. Sometimes it turns out that the simplest explanation is the correct one. Is it possible that the president kept his national security adviser in the White House for 18 days after he’d been warned by the acting attorney general that he had been ‘compromised’ and was vulnerable to ‘blackmail’ by Russia because he had authorized the conversations in question?”

John Harwood: “President Trump has made an enormous bet that takes the entire Republican agenda hostage and could even shorten his time in office.”

“His bet is that now, with James Comey under fire across the political spectrum, he could fire the FBI director investigating his campaign and associates with a minimum of blowback.”

“The muted initial reaction from many Republicans offered encouragement to the White House. But subsequent criticism, as the news sank in, from the Republican senator leading the Senate Intelligence Committee investigation and others underscored the risks facing Trump.”

James Hohmann: “Every piece of Trump’s agenda just became harder to get through Congress. Democrats will be less inclined than ever to work with this president, and the liberal base will become even less tolerant of red state incumbents collaborating with him. It’s going to be really hard to get to 60 votes for anything Trump wants for a while. Whoever Trump nominates as Comey’s replacement will face a brutal confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. It will get saturation-level media coverage.”

Rick Klein: “In a presidency defined by the unprecedented, this is a big deal, bigger even than politics itself. These are republic-defining, Constitution-preserving stakes, courtesy of a president who has defied convention and tradition and pushed the boundaries of appropriate conduct so consistently that he has caused his motivations to be questioned even when circumstances don’t look anything like this.”

“In this case, though, President Trump would have us believe that he decided to dismiss FBI Director James Comey organically and innocently, based on sincere outrage about the way he handled the investigation that may have handed him the presidency. Trump fired Comey in the middle of an active, sprawling investigation into his campaign’s contacts and connections with Russia, an investigation that the president himself declared to be a ‘total hoax’ and a ‘taxpayer funded charade’ less than 24 hours earlier. Trump and his attorney general, who was supposed to have recused himself from all matters regarding Russia and Hillary Clinton, of course celebrated Comey’s actions back when they benefited their political cause, and are now throwing Democrats’ words blasting Comey back at him.”

“These are moments for truth and of truth for public servants, inside the Department of Justice, the Congress and even the White House, and regardless of political persuasion. Perhaps it all ends as it’s supposed to end, with a real investigation by an unimpeachable professional replacement at the FBI. Plus, Trump can’t fire Congress, at least not this easily. Trump distills almost everything to politics, the for-us-or-against-us combat in which he relishes. This now transcends that. At stake is the credibility of the federal government, period, end of story. The president doesn’t get to write the next chapter by himself.”

Mike Allen: “Republicans around town, and even some White House officials, tell me they’re baffled by President Trump’s decision to fire FBI Director James Comey in the middle of his Russia investigation — and with the explanation that it’s because of his handling of Hillary’s email, which Trump had praised him for in the past.”

“Even some White House officials believe that the likely result will be a special counsel, which Democrats are now pushing nearly in unison.”

Playbook: “Democrats and many Republicans are furious at Trump for firing the FBI director. Leave aside any lingering concerns with Jim Comey’s performance. The optics of firing Comey the way Trump did is almost too reckless to believe, according to the insiders we’ve spoken to. One senior Republican aide put it this way: It’s almost as if Trump was courting controversy with both parties by handling the situation the way he did.”

The AP reports that Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said last night that he told Trump in a phone conversation “You are making a big mistake.”