But Trump critics in the Republican Party tend not to stay in office for very long.
Four have retired; six are running for reelection, all of them facing primary challengers because of their impeachment vote — including some endorsed by Trump.
So far at least four have lost their primaries, including the most high-profile GOP critic of Trump, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
Here’s what happened to the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach the former president on his way out the door.
RUNNING FOR REELECTION
Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) (lost)
What she said then: Cheney is the most outspoken, defiant Republican in Congress when it comes to Trump: “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution. I will vote to impeach the President.” Cheney then agreed to serve on a committee Democrats put together to investigate the former president’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack; she’s the committee’s vice chair. She also ran for reelection, even though her party kicked her out of leadership, censured her and backed a pro-Trump challenger who beat her, Harriet Hageman. And, in a primary with notably high turnout, she lost her job by a huge margin.
What she’s up to now: Maybe running for president in 2024. Cheney has vowed to do whatever she can to keep Trump out of the White House again. If that means running for president in a Republican primary to try to siphon away votes from him, she sounds open to it.
“I’m a conservative Republican,” she said in her concession speech Tuesday in Wyoming. “I believe deeply in the principles and the ideals on which my party was founded. … But I love my country more.” She exited the stage to Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down,” reports The Post’s Paul Kane.
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.) (lost)
What she said then: “I believe President Trump acted against his oath of office, so I will vote to impeach him.”
During the impeachment, she shared that the top House Republican, Kevin McCarthy, relayed to her a conversation he had with the president on Jan. 6, when McCarthy asked Trump to stop the rioters. Herrera Beutler said that Trump told McCarthy, “Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.” She offered to testify in the Senate’s trial and urged other Republicans with knowledge of this and similar conversations to come forward. Herrera Beutler supported an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack; when that failed, she opposed the current commission, made up largely of Democrats, saying it was too partisan. Her local Republican Party censured her for her impeachment vote.
What she’s up to now: She lost. Trump backed a challenger to her, Joe Kent, whom she called a “horrifying” extremist. The race was close, and after the vote count showed Kent pulling ahead, Herrera Beutler conceded. Under Washington’s primary system, the top two vote getters, regardless of party, advance; Democrat Marie Perez appears to have come in first in the primary.) Herrera Beutler had held the seat for more than a decade.
Rep. Peter Meijer (Mich.) (lost)
What he said then: “The President betrayed his oath of office by seeking to undermine our constitutional process, and he bears responsibility for inciting the violent acts of insurrection last week.”
What he’s up to now: He lost his reelection after just one term in Congress, to a much more extreme, lesser-funded candidate: election-denier and former Trump administration official John Gibbs. Meijer told the Atlantic he wanted to stay in office to effect change in the Republican Party but that it’s hard. He’s faced death threats. “I just feel lonely,” he said. Now, Democrats feel they have a good shot to recapture his battleground district.
Rep. Dan Newhouse (Wash.)
What he said then: “A vote against this impeachment is a vote to validate the unacceptable violence we witnessed in our nation’s capital.”
What he’s up to now: It appears he will survive a Trump-endorsed primary challenge, even though most county GOP leaders in Newhouse’s conservative farming district demanded that he resign over his impeachment vote, calling it “indefensible.” Results are still coming in from the Aug. 2 primary, but Newhouse appears like he will advance to the general election in Washington’s top-two primary system, which rewards the top two vote getters regardless of party. Tellingly, a challenger endorsed by Trump — Loren Culp, the state party’s 2020 gubernatorial nominee who has questioned legitimate election results and public health advice about the coronavirus — looks like he won’t advance.
Throughout his campaign, Newhouse has tried to keep his head down and focus his time and energy on local issues far removed from impeachment drama. “For those who disagree with me on this issue, I hope they will remember my lifelong support for conservative causes and values,” he said shortly after the impeachment.
Rep. Tom Rice (S.C.) (lost)
What he said then: “I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But this utter failure is inexcusable.”
What he’s up to now: He decided to run for reelection in his solidly Republican district, where he emphasizes that he voted for Trump almost all of the time. But Trump supporters there didn’t forget his one vote against the president, and in South Carolina’s June primary, he lost his primary to state Rep. Russell Fry, who Trump endorsed. The signs were there for months: In February, Rice was met with protesters during a campaign stop, reports the Sun News. “You betrayed us. Resign now! Or we will fire you,” one sign read. He’s got several serious primary challengers, one of whom has Trump’s endorsement, state Rep. Russell Fry. Rice has been defiant, saying before his primary: “If we are going to have a scenario where the president can try to intimidate Congress into doing what he wants, well shoot, we might as well have a monarchy,” Rice told NPR, later adding: “And I guess if the consequences are that the people think what happened is okay, then I guess, you know, I’m not that guy.”
Rep. David G. Valadao (Calif.)
What he said then: “I voted to impeach President Trump. His inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense. It’s time to put country over politics.”
What he’s up to now: He survived a primary challenge under California’s top-two voting system, which rewards the top-two vote getters regardless of party. Interestingly, unlike some others on this list, Valadao has the support of House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, and Trump never backed a challenger. A Democrat has advanced as the No. 1 vote-getter, and his California district has been redrawn to become slightly friendlier to Democrats.
RETIRING
Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.)
What he said then: “Enough is enough. The Congress must hold President Trump to account and send a clear message that our country cannot and will not tolerate any effort by any President to impede the peaceful transfer of power from one President to the next.”
What he’s up to now: Upton is one of the longest-serving members of Congress on this list, winning his seat in 1986. After his impeachment vote, he said he received death threats. For nearly a year, he said he was still deciding whether to run again. He was running ads and raising money as if he were running again, though his district was redrawn to force him to compete with another Republican incumbent (who didn’t vote for Trump’s impeachment). Trump has also endorsed a primary challenger in the race, state Rep. Steve Carra. Upton announced his decision to retire on Tuesday, surprising much of the political establishment. “Even the best stories has a last chapter. This is it for me,” he said.
“I don’t have any qualms about my vote — and neither do any of the other nine [House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump],” he told The Post’s Early 202 in January.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.)
What he said then: “There is no doubt in my mind that the President of the United States broke his oath of office and incited this insurrection.”
What he’s up to now: Alongside Cheney, Kinzinger is the only other Republican serving on the Jan. 6 committee. The RNC censured him for his work. Like Cheney, he’s also been a vocal critic of Trump even after the former president left office. But unlike Cheney, Kinzinger is leaving Congress at the end of this year, saying Washington has become too partisan. His district also was redrawn by Illinois Democrats, drawing him into competition with another House Republican (who did not vote to impeach Trump). Kinzinger said he wouldn’t be leaving politics entirely, promising “a broader fight nationwide.”
Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio)
What he said then: “When I consider the full scope of events leading up to January 6, including the President’s lack of response as the United States Capitol was under attack, I am compelled to support impeachment.”
What he’s up to now: Gonzalez was the first to retire rather than face a brutal primary battle after his impeachment vote. (A former Trump aide announced that he’d challenge Gonzalez and got Trump’s endorsement.) But Gonzalez made sure to share how he felt about Trump on his way out: Trump “is a cancer on the country,” he told the New York Times, saying that he’d spend his political energy stopping Trump from being president again. In that interview, Gonzalez also mentioned that, after his impeachment vote, he and his family needed security after arriving at Cleveland’s airport.
Rep. John Katko (N.Y.)
What he said then: “To allow the President of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy. For that reason, I cannot sit by without taking action. I will vote to impeach this President.”
What he’s up to now: He’s retiring at the end of his term, saying he wants to spend more time with his family. But Democrats also redrew his district to become a lot more Democratic-leaning.
What about the Senate Republicans who voted to convict Trump?
Seven Republican senators voted to convict Trump in his trial in the Senate, a remarkably high number. But two are retiring — Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina and Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania.
And because senators serve six-year cycles, only one of the seven — Lisa Murkowski of Alaska — faces voters this November. She’s got a primary challenger, whom Trump has endorsed: former statewide official Kelly Tshibaka.
But Murkowski also has the support of Senate Republicans, and a wide array of support within Alaska. And Alaska now has an open primary and ranked-choice voting, meaning voters choose their candidates regardless of party in the primary, then rank them in the general election — which often benefits politicians with broad support over candidates with just one niche.
As a result, she easily advanced in the state’s August primary. Murkowski will likely face Tshibaka again in November.
This has been updated with the latest news. Kevin Uhrmacher contributed to this report.