What to know now:
1. Trump picks Gorsuch: Judge Neil Gorsuch is President Donald Trump choice for nominee to fill the vacant seat on the U.S. Supreme Court. Gorsuch, who sits on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, is considered to be in the mold of the man he will replace if confirmed – Anton Scalia. Gorsuch has ruled in favor of religious freedom and against assisted suicide legislation during his career. He is from Colorado and is married with two children.
2. Tillerson vote: The full Senate is expected to vote Wednesday on the confirmation of Rex Tillerson, President Trump's nominee for secretary of State. Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil CEO, survived an 11-10 vote along party lines in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week. Senate Democrats boycotted a Senate Finance Committee meeting Tuesday in which a vote on two cabinet picks – Steve Mnuchin for Treasury secretary and Tom Price for Health and Human Services secretary – were to take place. The vote was postponed because at least on Democrat must be present for a committee vote to take place.
3. National signing day: While it's not college football, it's as close as you're going to get in February. Wednesday is national signing day, the day when high school players reveal – or in many cases confirm – which college they will be playing football for. Indications are that the University of Alabama, Ohio State University, Georgia, Tennessee and Texas A&M will be among the top signing classes Wednesday.
4. Action on Dakota pipeline: On Tuesday, the Army Corps of Engineers was ordered to allow construction of the Dakota Access pipeline to proceed. The Acting Secretary of the Army directed the Corps to proceed with an easement necessary to complete the pipeline, according to North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven. The move is the latest in the effort to finish the $3.8 billion pipeline that would bring oil through the Dakotas to the Midwest.
5. Missouri executes killer: A Missouri man was put to death Tuesday, nearly 19 years to the day after he raped and murdered a woman and her two children. Mark Christeson was 18 when he and his cousin abducted and killed Susan Brouk and her 12-year-old daughter, Adrian, and her 9-year-old son, Kyle. Christeson was convicted of slitting the throats of the Brouk and Kyle, while his cousin strangled Adrian. The three were dumped into a pond.
And one more
Scott Kelly, the man who spent nearly a year in space, came back a changed man – at least his DNA did. According to a study of Kelly and is twin brother, astronaut Mark Kelly, Scott was 2 inches taller when he returned to Earth, had longer chromosomes, had slightly slower cognitive abilities in speed and accuracy and his level of DNA modification slowed, among other changes.
In case you missed it
Daniel Boden does a double backflip while riding a snowmobile.
Here is how it looked to him.
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