President Donald Trump did not attend a memorial service for former Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday. In fact, he wasn’t even invited.

The former vice president, who helped expand the powers of the presidency and shape the nation’s war on terrorism after Sept. 11, 2001, died this month at age 84.

But in 2024, the once-powerful Republican turned on his party’s nominee, Trump, by announcing he would vote for the Democrat’s nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

“We have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution,” Cheney said.

His decision to join his daughter, former Rep. Liz Cheney, in speaking out against Trump left him isolated from his own party and reexamined by some of his most vocal critics.

A person close to the Cheney family had initially said that Vice President JD Vance was invited, but aides to the vice president said Thursday morning that he was not and that he did not attend. Trump ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff after Cheney’s death, as required by law, but issued no statement and has refrained from commenting publicly.

Other Trump administration officials were not expected to attend and incumbent Republican members of Congress who still want a political future may stay away as well, out of fear of angering Trump, who considers Liz Cheney one of his chief nemeses.

But it was not clear whether many incumbent Democratic lawmakers who still want a political future will come either, given the still-strong feelings on the political left about Dick Cheney’s policies on Iraq, interrogation and surveillance.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Peter Baker/Stephen Crowley
c. 2025 The New York Times Company