title: Highlights: The Trump presidency on February 1 at 7:44 P.M. EST/1244 GMT
text: (Reuters) - Highlights of the day for U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday: Trump urges Senate Republicans to “go nuclear” and impose a rule change to force a simple majority vote toward confirmation if Democrats block his U.S. Supreme Court nominee. Public refusals by two U.S. Senate Republicans to support Betsy DeVos, Trump’s pick for education secretary, raise the possibility of a rare congressional rejection of a Cabinet nominee. The Senate confirms Rex Tillerson as secretary of state despite concerns over his ties to Russia, while committees approve Jeff Sessions, one of Trump’s most controversial Cabinet selections, as attorney general, as well as two other nominees. Evangelical Christian leader Jerry Falwell Jr. will head an education reform task force under Trump and is eager to cut university regulations, including rules on dealing with campus sexual assault. The White House puts Iran “on notice” for test-firing a ballistic missile and says it is reviewing how to respond, abruptly adopting an aggressive posture toward Tehran that could raise tensions in the region. Defense Secretary James Mattis is expected to underscore security commitments to South Korea and Japan on his debut trip to Asia this week as concerns mount over North Korea’s missile program and tensions with China. Tillerson sees his job become harder before it even begins because of administration moves that have antagonized Muslim nations, European allies, Mexico and U.S. bureaucrats. The Trump administration wants to revamp and rename a U.S. government program designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on Islamist extremism, five people briefed on the matter tell Reuters. Trump pays his respects to a U.S. Navy SEAL who died in a raid on al Qaeda in Yemen that went wrong, the first military operation authorized by Trump as commander in chief. Trump will likely face questions about his executive order restricting some travel to the United States when he meets with the CEOs of major U.S. companies at the White House on Friday. U.N. human rights experts warn that asylum seekers could face torture if not given haven and the Vatican calls for  openness to other cultures, adding to a drumbeat of criticism of Trump’s travel curbs. Trump lashes out at one of his favorite targets for derision - the news media - complaining to a group of his supporters attending a Black History Month session that most reporters who cover him are a “disgrace.” 