• Hal Sparks, Jacki Schechner, Jim Ward, and Chris Lavoie are holding down the fort today from the Los Angeles Bureau

• A measure to extend the U.S. debt limit for nearly four months moved closer on Tuesday to a vote and the White House said the president would sign the bill if it cleared Congress, easing uncertainty that could have threatened the U.S. economy.

• No one expects any bombshell revelations about Benghazi when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies in Congress today about the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that claimed the lives of four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens.

• U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, signaled on Tuesday that despite earlier indications to the contrary, he may allow a vote on a possible ban on assault weapons.

• National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre blasted President Obama for his Inaugural warning against “absolutism” and reiterated his promise to give no ground on gun control.

• A 22-year-old man has been charged in a shooting on a community college campus in Texas that left three people wounded, one critically, authorities said.