International Desk

US President Joe Biden on Thursday awarded Liz Cheney, a former Republican congresswoman and fierce critic of Donald Trump, with a citizens service medal, after the incoming president warned she "could be in a lot of trouble" once he takes office.

The ex-lawmaker from Wyoming, along with 19 other prominent figures, was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal "for putting the American people over party," an announcer said during a White House ceremony before Biden handed her the award.

Other recipients of the medal -- the second-highest civilian award granted by the US government -- included former US senator Chris Dodd, ex-congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy and current lawmaker Bennie Thompson, who chaired the House committee that investigated Trump's role in the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

Addressing the honorees at the start of the ceremony, Biden said: "Together, you embody, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, the essential truth: we're a great nation, we're a great nation because we're a good people." Cheney, the daughter of former vice president Dick Cheney, served as the vice-chair of the committee.

Describing Liz Cheney, the White House said in a statement Thursday that she "has raised her voice -- and reached across the aisle -- to defend our Nation and the ideals we stand for: Freedom. Dignity. And decency."

"Her integrity and intrepidness remind us all what is possible if we work together," it added. Cheney, 58, has become a prominent anti-Trump voice within the Republican Party in recent years, but she lost her congressional seat in 2022 to a pro-Trump candidate.

She also campaigned alongside Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate who was defeated by Trump in November. Trump is set to return to the White House on January 20 and has vowed to get revenge on political adversaries.

The Republican said in a social media post last month that "Liz Cheney could be in a lot of trouble based on the evidence obtained by the subcommittee, which states that 'numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, and these violations should be investigated by the FBI.'"

A Republican-led congressional panel in December accused Cheney of witness tampering when she helped lead the probe into the deadly attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters.

She has denied the accusations.