President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Freedom to George Romney, the late governor of Michigan and secretary of Housing and Urban Development during the Nixon administration. Romney’s son, former Sen. Mitt Romney, accepted the award on his father’s behalf during a ceremony in the White House Saturday.

Washington • With 16 days left in a political career that spanned a half-century, President Joe Biden on Saturday conferred one of the nation’s highest honors on core members of the political, financial and celebrity establishment of which he has long been a part.

With a recipient list stocked with old-guard icons and political backers, the president signaled support for the establishment his successor wants to tear down.