Consumer advocates implored President Obama to move forward with the labels despite the threat of damaging trade sanctions.

Two top financial examiners will be shifting roles, as one deputy replaces a boss going on to lead a newly created risk management office.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Thursday that Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations Director Carlo di Florio is leaving to head a new division at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and will be replaced by his deputy, Andrew Bowden.

In the new role, Bowden will be the SEC's chief inspector of investment advisory firms and will lead the National Exam Program, a team of more than 900 staffers that inspects investment advisers, clearing agencies and other financial firms to root out fraud and protect investors from insider trading and Ponzi schemes.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will vote May 9 on whether to advance the nomination of Gina McCarthy to lead the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the panel announced Thursday.

McCarthy, who would replace former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, heads the agency’s Office of Air and Radiation.

“Gina McCarthy is a strong, bipartisan candidate and is the right person for the job at this critical time. The EPW Committee’s business meeting is an important step forward in the confirmation process,” Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) said in a statement.

A major oil and gas trade group said Thursday that it’s hopeful forthcoming federal hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, rules will incorporate industry suggestions.

Erik Milito, upstream group director with the American Petroleum Institute (API), said it was encouraging that the Interior Department pulled back draft fracking rules in January.

“Each time a new draft has come out we believe it’s moved in a positive direction. Our concern is still that they are implementing measures that haven’t been demonstrated to fill any particular gap that’s not already been filled,” Milito said during a media briefing at API’s Washington, D.C., office.

The American public handed over 371 tons of prescription drugs to the government this past weekend.

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) collected the unused, expired and unwanted pharmaceuticals, equaling about nine tractor-trailer trucks, from more than 5,800 nationwide locations as part of its sixth scheduled National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Saturday's haul collected 50 percent more pills than the previous event, which the agency pointed to as a sign of support for the program.

The total would have been higher had sequester-imposed spending cuts not shaved off more than $30 million, officials said.

A new government report identifies myriad factors for the disappearance of honeybees, a previously mystifying phenomenon that has baffled scientists since 2006.

The report, jointly released on Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), blames "a complex set" of environmental stresses that have caused a dramatic decline among bee colonies, a symptom dubbed colony collapse disorder.

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The study contradicts a White House report crediting administration rules since 2002 with $800 billion in benefits above costs.

A handful of advisory groups will meet in upcoming weeks, and are announcing those meetings in Friday's Federal Register. Here's what to expect:

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an independent government agency, is holding a meeting on May 8 to consider a wellness program.