POL-Rangel-Obama-Women

As President Barack Obama finalizes his cabinet picks heading into his second term, some are pointing to a noted lack of diversity among the select group.

POL-BTN-presidential-cabinets

President Barack Obama is preparing for his second-term Inauguration and with that comes the inevitable Cabinet shake-up. Here's a look at presidential Cabinets, by the numbers:

US-Obama-Inauguration-Giglio

In the face of withering criticism over a sermon he apparently delivered on homosexuality in the 1990s, the Rev. Louie Giglio has withdrawn from giving the benediction at President Barack Obama's inauguration.

POL-Obama-Inauguration-Bible

What do the 16th president, a civil rights leader, and Michelle Obama's grandmother have in common? Their Bibles will be used in the second inauguration of President Barack Obama.

POL-Massachusetts-Scott-Brown

It's one of the biggest questions in 2013 campaign politics: Will former Sen. Scott Brown of Massachusetts make a bid this year to return to the Senate?

POL-Poll-NJ-Senate

Should it come down to a Democratic Senate primary next year in New Jersey between incumbent Frank Lautenberg and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a new survey suggests at this point, Booker would have the upper hand.

MONEY

MONEY-stocks-markets

U.S. stocks logged a second straight day of gains Thursday, pushing the S&P 500 to a fresh 5-year closing high. But investors are still cautious ahead of a slew of earnings reports next week.

MONEY-treasury-jack-lew

President Obama announced the nomination of his White House chief of staff, Jacob "Jack" Lew, for Treasury Secretary on Thursday.

MONEY-debt-ceiling-faqs

Congress narrowly avoided pushing the country off the fiscal cliff. But it has done nothing to address the next and potentially bigger risk to the economy: the need to raise the debt ceiling. To help separate fact from fiction in the battle, here's what you need to know about the issue.

MONEY-debt-ceiling

The list of sorry ways to address the unthinkable is growing. Call the latest debt ceiling work-around the IOU Plan. Edward Kleinbard, a tax and legal scholar, has offered up a contingency plan he thinks President Obama could adopt without causing a constitutional crisis if Congress pushes the country to the brink of default: Issue IOUs that can be sold and traded in private markets.

MONEY-american-express-jobs

American Express announced Thursday that it was cutting 5,400 jobs, becoming the latest large financial firm to reduce its headcount.

MONEY-unemployment-benefits

Claims for unemployment benefits rose during the first week of 2013, showing little improvement from the start of last year.