President Biden will present the second-highest civilian award to Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, the leaders of the congressional inquiry into the January 6th, 2021 Capitol riot. These lawmakers were criticized by Donald Trump, who called for their imprisonment.
At a White House ceremony on Thursday, Biden will honor twenty individuals with the Presidential Citizens Medal. Recipients include advocates for marriage equality, a pioneer in treating war wounds, and two of the president’s long-standing friends, former Senators Ted Kaufman and Chris Dodd.
The White House stated that these individuals are united by their integrity and dedication to public service, adding that their contributions have significantly benefited the nation.
Last year, Biden recognized individuals who defended the Capitol during the riot or safeguarded election integrity in 2020, when Trump unsuccessfully attempted to overturn the results.
Cheney, a former Wyoming Republican representative, and Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, spearheaded the House committee investigating the insurrection. Cheney’s subsequent endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris for the 2024 presidency, including campaigning with her, further angered Trump. Biden has considered offering preemptive pardons to Cheney and others targeted by Trump.
Trump, who won the 2024 election and will assume office on January 20th, continues to deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election results and has vowed to pardon the January 6th rioters.
In an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Trump stated that Cheney’s actions, along with Thompson’s and those of the committee members, were unforgivable, falsely alleging that evidence was destroyed. He concluded by saying they should face imprisonment.
Biden will also present the award to attorney Mary Bonauto, a champion of same-sex marriage legalization, and Evan Wolfson, a key figure in the marriage equality movement.
Other recipients include Frank Butler, who advanced tourniquet use in wartime; Diane Carlson Evans, a Vietnam War nurse and founder of the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation; and Eleanor Smeal, a women’s rights activist known for her 1970s activism and advocacy for equal pay.
Additional honorees are photographer Bobby Sager; academics Thomas Vallely and Paula Wallace; and Frances Visco, president of the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
Former lawmakers receiving the award include former Senator Bill Bradley; former Senator Nancy Kassebaum, Kansas’s first female senator; and former Representative Carolyn McCarthy, a gun safety advocate whose family was impacted by gun violence.
Four individuals will be recognized posthumously: Joseph Galloway, a war correspondent; civil rights advocate Louis Lorenzo Redding; former Delaware state judge Collins Seitz; and Mitsuye Endo Tsutsumi, a Japanese American who challenged wartime detention.
Established by President Nixon in 1969, the Presidential Citizens Medal is the nation’s second-highest civilian honor, awarded for exceptional service to the country or its citizens.