Washington DC - Liz Cheney was feted by Democrats on Thursday as outgoing President Joe Biden awarded her the second-highest civilian honor for her outspoken criticism of Donald Trump.

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 at the White House ceremony, to cheers and applause from the audience.

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."

Other recipients of the medal 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.

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Cheney, the daughter of the Republican former vice president Dick Cheney – the architect of the catastrophic invasion of Iraq – 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 in the 2024 election.

Despite her public criticism of Trump, she voted in line with the then-president's position over 90% of the time as a congresswoman.