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Senators want to know why the CIA videotaped the interrogation of terrorism suspects — and whether the CIA was trying to hide harsh methods of interrogation when it destroyed the tapes. CIA director Michael Hayden is scheduled to testify Tuesday before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Wray faced a wide range of questions by House Judiciary Committee members, most framed as accusations that the FBI pursues a political agenda targeting conservatives.

From 2001 to 2003, the Senate Intelligence Committee was not briefed on details of the CIA's interrogation tactics, and heard no mention of videotapes of the interrogations, says Former Sen. Bob Graham. The Florida Democrat chaired the panel from 2001 through 2003. The panel questions CIA Director Michael Hayden about the videotapes Tuesday.

Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell released his long-awaited report on steroid use in Major League Baseball on Thursday, blaming the "steroids era" on "everyone involved in baseball over the past two decades."

Congress is finishing up a massive farm bill that will set U.S. policy for the next five years. Among other things, it funds the food aid program, which is sending half as much food to hungry people around the world as it used to. Critics say this is a life-and-death matter.

The National Endowment for the Arts has released a study on reading trends in the U.S. The study shows "startling declines" in "how much and how well" Americans are reading.

News broke Thursday that in 2005, the CIA destroyed at least two videotapes made three years earlier that showed harsh interrogation techniques. Intelligence committee members from both parties say they weren't told about the tapes or about plans to destroy them.

The Senate passed a $286-billion farm bill on Friday expanding grower subsidies and food stamps. An earlier version of the bill contained a bipartisan amendment designed to scale back the nation's federal crop insurance program, which critics have called one of the government's most inefficient programs.

The farm bill is back on the move, with the Senate considering major changes to the nation's farm policy. One plan, defeated Tuesday, would have ended the current program of commodity crop subsidies that critics say unfairly benefits the few and replaced it with a new crop-insurance program to help all farmers when they need it.

Pharmaceutical giant Merck will pay $4.85 billion to end thousands of lawsuits over its painkiller Vioxx. The amount, to be paid into a settlement fund, is believed to be the largest drug settlement ever. Claims must meet certain criteria to qualify for payment as the settlement is not a class action.