Greenpeace protesters on Wednesday scaled a 270-foot construction crane blocks from the White House and unfurled a huge banner that urges people to “RESIST” the Trump administration.

Washington's Metropolitan Police Department closed streets in the area as two of the seven protestors who climbed up the crane dangled alongside the 70-by-35-foot banner.

The crane is being used in construction of the new headquarters of Fannie Mae, the housing finance giant bailed out by the federal government during the financial crisis.

Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was resting midway down a Colorado ski slope last year when his cellphone rang with the news that Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia had died.

“I immediately lost what breath I had left,” Gorsuch recalled in an April speech, “and I am not embarrassed to admit that I couldn’t see the rest of the way down the mountain for the tears.”

Now, as President Trump’s pick to replace Scalia on the high court, Gorsuch is seen by many on the right as a fitting replacement for the iconic jurist that Gorsuch considered a “lion of the law.” 

President Trump nominated federal Judge Neil M. Gorsuch on Tuesday to the Supreme Court to fill the seat of the late Antonin Scalia, choosing from his short list an appeals court judge from Denver seen as most likely to win Senate confirmation.

Because Scalia was a stalwart conservative, Trump’s choice is not likely to change the balance of the court. But it does set the stage for a bruising partisan fight over a man who could help determine law on gun rights, immigration, police use of force and transgender rights.

The hashtag #ResistTrumpTuesdays trended Tuesday, as protests against President Trump's immigration policies and Cabinet nominees continued around the country. Protests took place in Brooklyn; Kansas City, Mo.; Miami; Minneapolis; New Brunswick, N.J.; Tucson; and Worcester, Mass., as well as outside of lawmakers' offices in Washington, D.C.

In Brooklyn, thousands of protesters marched to the apartment building of U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to demand that he reject President Trump's Cabinet picks.

In Minneapolis, protesters gathered to object to Trump's ban on travelers from Muslim-majority countries.

As protests spread over policy announcements from the Trump administration, Democrats must work to encourage participation in politics, but face a danger of the party becoming too radicalized, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) said Tuesday.

“The radical nature of this government is radicalizing Democrats, and that’s going to pose a real challenge to the Democratic Party, which is to draw on the energy and the activism and the passion that is out there, but not let it turn us into what we despised about the tea party," Schiff said. 

During a meeting with reporters and editors in the Los Angeles Times'  Washington bureau, Schiff also discussed his role as the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Select Intelligence Committee under a Trump administration and how Democrats will manage in the minority.

President Trump used the word "ban" in a tweet as recently as Monday to describe his new executive order suspending travel from seven Muslim-majority countries and halting the refugee program for several months.

But facing backlash from many directions, the White House adamantly insisted Tuesday that the word is verboten.

"This is not a ban," White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters in a fiery news briefing. 

The Trump administration doubled down Tuesday on its commitment to transforming the nation’s border law enforcement, signaling that some of the temporary bans on travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries are likely to be made permanent and elevating a deportations official to run the top immigration enforcement agency.

Administration officials, led by newly sworn-in Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, moved to allay the havoc that marked the roll-out of the ban and another on refugees. They briefed reporters and planned to head to Capitol Hill later today in an apparent effort to smooth relations after reports that lawmakers and other stakeholders were left out of the crafting of the executive order on toughened vetting at border entry points.

In a news conference, Kelly and other top Homeland Security officials conceded some problems, including poor communication. But they insisted that all court orders were followed over the weekend, rebutted reports that some legal residents were denied access to attorneys at airports and said they everyone detained by border agents was treated with "dignity and respect."

The Senate has confirmed Elaine Chao to serve as Transportation secretary in the Trump administration. The vote was 93 to 6 on Tuesday. 

Chao is an experienced Washington hand. She was Labor secretary under President George W. Bush and is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Chao would be a lead actor in pursuing Trump's promise to invest $1 trillion to improve highways, rail service and other infrastructure projects. 

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan on Tuesday stood by President Trump's temporary ban on refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations and indicated that he was confident the administration could fix the "confusing" rollout without action from Congress.

"What is happening is something we support," said Ryan, whose office was the target of a sit-in by protesters opposed to Trump's order. "We need to pause and we need to make sure that the vetting standards are up to snuff so we can guarantee the safety and security of our country."

Congress was blindsided by Trump's executive action -- Ryan learned about it as the public did when the White House announced it Friday afternoon. Many GOP lawmakers have raised concerns.