CONGRESS

Fitch Ratings on Friday downgraded JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), which just revealed at least $2 billion in losses on questionable trading. The downgrade came on the same day that a U.S. senator called for a Congressional probe of the giant bank and the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed that her agents are eyeing the money center's hedging activity.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the filibuster has been abused, abused, abused after a bipartisan bill to reauthorize a federal export financing bank was stalled Thursday.

In a vote that solidifies the Republican Party's economic platform heading into the 2012 election, the House voted on Thursday to reverse mandated cuts to the Pentagon by slashing social assistance programs that largely benefit poor Americans.

China's inflation rate slowed in April from the previous month, showing signs that the price pressure is gradually diminishing to make room for monetary easing.

The parents of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a United States soldier taken prisoner by Taliban affiliates, have revealed previous secret attempts by the U.S. to trade him for Taliban prisoners.

Ron Paul ate with Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, on Wednesday, and after their meal Paul joked that he's for the gold standard now.

The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service said Thursday its net loss widened to $3.2 billion in the fiscal second quarter as revenues continue to dwindle. It also said it lacks sufficient cash to pay for required future retiree health benefits.

The Federal Aviation Administration is being urged to implement stronger oversight of air safety after officials found several safety rules violations on the part of air traffic controllers in New York.

The U.S. Postal Service said it is abandoning for now its plan to close thousands of post offices in rural locations and will instead keep them operating with shorter opening hours.

Freddie Mac, the second-largest mortgage guarantor, will announce the appointment of Donald Layton, former head of E*Trade Financial Corp., as a new CEO as early as Thursday, the Wall Street Journal said.

Democrats are seeing shades of 2010 in the Indiana Senate race, contending that Republican Richard Mourdock's primary win over longtime incumbent senator Dick Lugar gives them an opening.

Rick Santorum defended his seemingly tepid endorsement of Mitt Romney on the 'Tonight Show with Jay Leno' on Tuesday and said he wasn't trying to bury it at all by sending an e-mail late at night.

The six-term Republican senator from Indiana issued a statement more than 1,000 words long after losing a primary battle to Richard Mourdock, a state treasurer.

Victor Willis, the original lead singer in the six-man group the Village People, won a landmark copyright case Wednesday that will give him partial ownership of dozens of the disco band's songs.

Controversial conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh launched a Facebook campaign aimed at uniting conservative women against feminazis planning to take Rush off the air.

Experimental drugs that show a big effect early in development for treating serious or life-threatening diseases would get a faster and cheaper path to U.S. approval, under a proposal likely to become law this year. U.S. drug regulators would be able to label such treatments breakthrough therapies, and work with companies to speed up clinical trials, for example by testing the drugs for a shorter time or enrolling fewer patients.

Senate Republicans sustained a filibuster of a Democratic bill to keep some student loan rates from doubling to 6.8 percent in July.

The top echelons of the Communist Party of China may be discussing a delay of a key congress later this year that would determine who will replace the nation's top nine leaders.

In another public effort to pressure Congress to act, President Obama plans to release a five-point list of legislative proposals favored by the White House.

Mitt Romney's former presidential rival Rick Santorum officially endorsed the likely Republican nominee late Monday night after weeks of dodging questions about his support.

Senior Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod downplayed Vice President Joe Biden's vocal embrace of gay marriage, saying President Obama's shared the same beliefs.