The Biden administration is easing its restrictions on banking giant Wells Fargo, saying the bank has sufficiently fixed its toxic culture after years of scandals.

The United States is now committed to the idea of phasing out coal power plants, joining 56 other nations in kicking the coal habit.

A power company’s plans for an enormous offshore wind farm off Virginia's southeast coast have received key federal approval.

Video released by Russian state-funded media Russia Today gave his brother David Whelan the first sight of Paul Whelan since 2020.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers wants the Biden administration to punish South Africa for its alleged support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Biden Administration is pushing for airlines to boost refunds if your flight is delayed or canceled.

Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at University of Michigan's Rackham Auditorium on Thursday.

The Biden administration declared the northern long-eared bat endangered on Nov. 29 in a last-ditch effort to save a species driven to the brink of extinction by white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he sent the two buses of migrants from the U.S.-Mexico border who were dropped off near Vice President Kamala Harris’ home in residential Washington.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has pressed the case for Democratic economic policies during a visit to Ford’s Rouge electric vehicle assembly plant in election-year battleground Michigan.

Events to celebrate Ukraine’s Independence Day have been canceled as the country’s president warns Russia may try to do something particularly nasty or cruel.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is providing $2.8 billion in fresh funding for homeless services organizations across the country.

There's a new website that federal officials hope can help people and local governments beat the heat and keep it from getting deadly.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced $30 million in rail infrastructure funding for Michigan. The Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) grant program awarded $368 million to 46 projects across 32 states and Michigan’s projects were selected.

With the baby formula shortage becoming critical, the Biden Administration is invoking the Defense Production Act Wednesday (May 18) night to speed up the supply.

Many people don’t know that they are now entitled to receive eight free COVID tests per month.

The Biden Administration has announced that Native tribes across the United States will receive grants to extend internet access.

U-M's dean of public policy school is a top nominee for a role at the Federal Reserve, says White House.

Federal officials have issued guidance that they say will ensure the country's largest-ever investment in water infrastructure doesn’t bypass disadvantaged communities.

Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines are proposing to combine in a $2.9 billion deal.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is looking to tighten rules for allowable levels of lead in drinking water while the Biden Administration is looking to replace the country’s lead lines using new funds.

On Saturday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency has granted her request to expand the Major Disaster Declaration to include households in Macomb and Oakland counties following heavy rainfall and flooding across southeast Michigan in late June. FEMA’s agreement to expand the disaster declaration follows a letter Whitmer sent to FEMA appealing a previous denial of assistance to the areas.

Watch live coverage as President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic and renewed efforts to promote vaccinations across the country.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office is refuting recent reporting that Michigan left hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses unordered from the federal government as members of the state’s congressional delegation pleaded for more vaccines.

(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)FILE - In this Feb. 19, 2021, file photo President Joe Biden speaks after a tour of a Pfizer manufacturing site in Portage, Mich. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)WASHINGTON – Watch live coverage as President Joe Biden holds a memorial at the White House for the 500,000 Americans who lost their lives to the coronavirus. The event begins at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. FULL DETAILS: Biden to mourn 500,000 dead while balancing grief and hopeMORE: US tops 500,000 virus deaths, matching the toll of 3 warsWatch Live Coverage

WASHINGTON – Watch coronavirus livestream coverage of the outbreak as Covid-19 spreads, impacting markets and daily life across the U.S. and abroad. The event begins at 3 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Watch Live Coverage

That’s on top of the nearly $200 million for virus genome sequencing, which is critical for tracking new variants of the virus. Dr. Anthony Fauci said there are two studies that are pointing in a favorable direcion. If found higher amounts of the virus in the nose was linked to a greater ability to spread the virus. “In other words, higher viral load, good transmissibility; low viral load, very poor transmissibility.”So people who are fully vaccinated have less virus in their nose. Ad“When your turn to get vaccinated comes up, get vaccinated,” Fauci said.

DETROIT – Here’s what you missed on Local 4 News at Noon. Mayor Mike Duggan joins Biden Administration to talk about COVID stimulus planThe Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan will be discussed at the bi-partisan meeting Friday of governors and mayors, the White House said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has told Detroit it will be reimbursed about $18 million to cover the city’s coronavirus-related costs including money spent on administering vaccines.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Biden administration announced it plans to use the Defense Production Act to assist in the battle against coronavirus. The Defense Production Act was also used by the Trump administration early in the pandemic to increase the production of ventilators. During a Friday press conference, the White House COVID Response Team revealed details about how the act will be used to aid in three key areas. He said the Defense Production Act will be used to prioritize getting critical supplies for Pfizer, including more filling pumps. The act will also be used to help six suppliers make at-home and point-of-care COVID tests.

DETROIT – The family of a Michigan man convicted of espionage in Russia met with officials with President Joe Biden’s administration. The family said they’re optimistic about Paul Whelan’s release. Whelan is looking at spending the next 14 years in a Russian prison, but his family is holding out hope that the new administration can get him home. Paul Whelan was arrested in Russia when he went to attend a wedding in December 2018. “While Paul has been in prison, there really wasn’t any sort of dialogue, as far as we can tell, between the Russian Federation and the U.S.,” David Whelan said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, Monday, Jan. 25, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)(Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Boston Marathon Race Director Dave McGillivray holds an "I Got Vaccinated" button at a COVID-19 vaccine injection site set in a concession area at Fenway Park, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)BOSTON — A Massachusetts congressman who has received both doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine has tested positive for the virus. The state also reported 5,028 additional confirmed coronavirus cases, increasing the state’s totals to 748,260 cases and 13,022 deaths. Ad___FORT LAUNDERDALE, Fla. — The predominantly Black farming communities on the shore of Florida’s Lake Okeechobee will get a coronavirus vaccine station. Algeria has registered more than 106,000 coronavirus cases and 2,881 confirmed deaths.

The Biden administration’s new “COVID-19 Response Team” held its first briefing ever on Tuesday. Walensky warned that 89,000 more Americans could die due to COVID-19 in the next four weeks. Whitmer seeks common ground, virus relief in State of State“The White House respects and will follow the science, and that the science will speak independently and that our core values of science, public health and equity are going to drive our actions here at the White House,” said Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to White House COVID-19 Response Team. However, it will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine in the U.S. can get one. “I want you to know we’re taking this issue on with incredible urgency and purpose,” Slavitt said.

Though the rollout of the coronavirus vaccine has lagged behind expectations in Michigan and across the country, Michigan officials say they think the state is currently on the right track. During a news conference on Friday, Michigan’s chief medical executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun outlined the state’s vaccine distribution progress so far. With over 598,000 doses of the COVID-19 safe and effective vaccine going in arms,” Khaldun said. “I have been calling on the federal government to take this action for quite a while,” Whitmer said. Khaldun said Friday, however, that the vaccine does appear to be effective against the coronavirus variant.

ANN ARBOR – Robert Hampshire, associate professor at the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, has been appointed to work in the U.S. Transportation Department under the Biden administration, it was announced Thursday. He was appointed principal deputy assistant secretary for research and technology at the Transportation Department. The office, which receives an annual investment of $1 billion for transportation research and development, coordinates technology and research programs. He will oversee the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the Transportation Safety Institute in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hampshire was a research associate professor at U-M’s Michigan Institute for Data Science and Transportation Research Institute’s Human Factors group.

“The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence, what the science is and know that’s it, let the science speak -- it is somewhat of a liberating feeling,” Fauci added. Dr. Fauci asked about difference between Trump and Biden administrations:"The idea that you can get up here and talk about what you know, what the evidence, what the science is and know that's it, let the science speak — it is somewhat of a liberating feeling." Throughout the pandemic, Trump constantly undermined Fauci’s credibility, falsely insisting that the pandemic was nearly over. Now under the Biden administration, Fauci is in full view of the public, feeling like he can speak freely and openly about the science surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. “One of the new things in this administration is, If you don’t know the answer, don’t guess,” Fauci said.

President Joe Biden signs his first executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021, in Washington. Researchers at University of Michigan’s Research Seminar in Quantitative Economics are seeing some signs for optimism as they make forecasts looking ahead. “With the ongoing vaccine roll-out, the end of the pandemic is in sight, letting us focus on how the post-pandemic economy might look like.”Below are the U-M experts’ “five things to watch” and “five things to watch out for” in the country’s economy this year. Five things to watch for:Getting the vaccines out quickly is the most important economic/social task. Five things to watch out for:

Biden is expected to pick his former rival Pete Buttigieg as secretary of transportation and Granholm as energy secretary. On Saturday, Dec. 19, Biden officially announced his nomination of former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as Secretary of Energy while introducing appointees for his new climate and energy teams. Governor Granholm is just like the state she led so effectively for eight years: hard-working, resilient, and forward-thinking. I’m honored that President-elect @joeBiden has placed his faith in me as his Energy Secretary nominee. Governor Granholm also knows better than anyone how to make sure working people and organized labor are included in the clean energy transition.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris introduced the individuals nominated and appointed to their climate and energy team at an event on Saturday, Dec. 19. On Tuesday, a report from CNN indicated that Biden would nominate former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm to lead the U.S. Department of Energy. Progressives, energy lobbyists, environmental groups and auto workers welcomed Biden’s choice of popular former Mayor Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary. Jennifer Granholm for energy secretary and former Environmental Protection Agency chief Gina McCarthy as leader of domestic climate efforts also were met with general applause. Biden is also tapping environmental lawyer and Obama administration official Brenda Mallory to run the Council on Environmental Quality, the president-elect announced Thursday.

In this Nov. 25, 2020, photo provided by the Office of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Gov. Cuomo speaks in Rochester, N.Y. Cuomo is one of several contenders under consideration by President-elect Joe Biden for the role of attorney general. Andrew Cuomo is one of several contenders under consideration by President-elect Joe Biden for the role of attorney general, a person with knowledge of the search process said Friday. The person was not authorized to discuss the search process by name and spoke on condition of anonymity to The Associated Press. Cuomo has been asked in recent weeks about his interest in the attorney general spot.

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris held a live event Friday afternoon to introduce nominees and appointees for their administration. This live stream has now ended. President-elect Biden is introducing five top picks for his new administration on Friday, drawing on leading names from the Obama White House while also tapping an Ohio congresswoman and a congressional committee veteran. Appearing at the afternoon event are Biden’s choice for director of White House Domestic Policy Council, Susan Rice, who served as President Barack Obama’s national security adviser and U.N. ambassador; and Denis McDonough, Obama’s White House chief of staff, now nominated as veterans affairs secretary. Also attending will be Biden’s selection for agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, who held the same post for Obama; Ohio Rep. Marcia Fudge, chosen to be the new administration’s housing chief; and Katherine Tai, who is chief trade counsel for the House Ways and Means Committee and has been tapped as U.S. trade representative.

The Trump administration on Friday suspended all federal student loan payments through the end of January and kept interest rates at 0%, extending a moratorium that started early in the pandemic but was set to expire at the end of this month. By extending payments by one month, the administration is effectively leaving it to the Biden administration or Congress to decide whether to provide longer-term relief to millions of student borrowers. In announcing the extension, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rebuked Congress for failing to act. DeVos won praise for using her authority to pause federal student loan payments in March. A federal lawsuit filed against DeVos in April alleged that thousands of overdue borrowers were still getting pay withheld despite the mortarium.

WASHINGTON – President-elect Joe Biden has chosen his longtime adviser Ron Klain to reprise his role as his chief of staff, installing an aide with decades of experience in the top role in his White House. In a statement Wednesday night, Biden suggested he chose Klain for the position because his longtime experience in Washington had prepared him for such challenges. Klain served as chief of staff for Biden during Barack Obama’s first term, was chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore in the mid-1990s and was a key adviser on the Biden campaign, guiding Biden’s debate preparations and coronavirus response. The choice of Klain underscores the effort the incoming Biden administration will place on the coronavirus response from day one. But progressives see Klain as open to working with them on top priorities like climate change and health care.