Liz Cheney spent at least $58,000 on bodyguards after Jan. 6, wants to teach GOP basic civics


Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) has no regrets about opposing former President Donald Trump and his lies about the 2020 election, even though it cost her her position in House Republican leadership and earned her death threats, she tells The New York Times. And to defuse those lies, she's banking on giving a crash course in basic civics to GOP voters misled by Trump and perhaps even newly elected members of her caucus.
"We've got people we've entrusted with the perpetuation of the Republic who don't know what the rule of law is," Cheney said. "We probably need to do Constitution boot camps for newly sworn-in members of Congress. Clearly." She added that she's "not naive about the education that has to go on here," but "this is something that determines the nature of this Republic going forward," and she's in the fight for as long as it takes.
There has been a cost to Cheney's crusade. She spent most of her recent congressional break in Wyoming but made very few public appearances, having "received a stream of death threats, common menaces" among high-profile Trump critics, the Times reports. Cheney "is now surrounded by a newly deployed detail of plainclothes, ear-pieced agents," and "her campaign spent $58,000 on security from January to March, including three former Secret Service officers." The U.S. Capitol Police recently assigned Cheney a protective detail, the Times reports, "an unusual measure for a House member not in a leadership position."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Republican apostate is an odd position for a Cheney to find herself in, given former Vice President Dick Cheney's long and influential career in national GOP politics.
Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney's "political alter ego," the Times says, called his daughter on Jan. 6, as she was preparing to take the House floor to support certifying President Biden's election win and Trump's loss. Dick Cheney had just heard Trump vow to get rid of "the Liz Cheneys of the world," and he was worried for her safety, the Times reports. Cheney said she told her father she "absolutely" wanted to go ahead with her speech, because "this is about being able to tell your kids that you stood up and did the right thing," but she never got the chance because minutes later, Trump's supporters breached the Capitol. Read more about the Cheneys and their new role in national politics at The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Jared and Ivanka's Albanian island
Under The Radar The deal to develop Sazan has been met with widespread opposition
-
Storm warning
Feature The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season. Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?
-
U.S. v. Skrmetti: Did the trans rights movement overreach?
Feature The Supreme Court upholds a Tennessee law that bans transgender care for minors, dealing a blow to trans rights
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump