Is Cheney going to be a problem for Trump’s midterms?
Former Rep. Liz Cheney is back in the political spotlight as the 2026 midterm elections heat up, but this time the attention comes from a fellow Republican who questioned how much influence Cheney still carries.
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine offered a blunt assessment of the former Wyoming congresswoman during a wide-ranging interview with Politico’s Jonathan Martin.
The conversation turned to the different ways Republican lawmakers have dealt with President Donald Trump, particularly those who have publicly challenged him compared with Republicans who have maintained closer relationships with the president.
Collins said she does not believe she fits neatly into either category.
But when Cheney’s name came up, the Maine senator questioned what the former congresswoman gained politically from becoming one of Trump’s most outspoken Republican critics.
“What influence does she have today? Really none,” Collins said.
The comment puts Cheney’s dramatic break with Trump back under the microscope at a time when Collins herself is fighting to hold onto her Senate seat in the 2026 midterms.
Cheney Was Once a Powerful House Republican
Cheney once occupied a dramatically different position within the Republican Party.
The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney rose to become chair of the House Republican Conference, making her one of the highest-ranking Republicans in Congress.
She also supported much of Trump’s policy agenda during his first term.
That relationship changed following the events at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Cheney became a prominent Republican critic of Trump and joined nine other House Republicans in voting to impeach him following the Capitol attack.
She later served as vice chair of the House committee that investigated Jan. 6, a position that further widened the divide between Cheney and Trump.
Trump Backed Cheney’s Republican Challenger
The political battle eventually followed Cheney home to Wyoming.
Trump threw his support behind Harriet Hageman, who challenged Cheney for the Republican nomination in 2022.
The primary was not close.
Hageman defeated Cheney by nearly 40 percentage points, ending Cheney’s congressional career and delivering a decisive victory to Trump’s preferred candidate.
But Cheney continued participating in national politics after leaving Congress.
She remained a vocal Trump critic and eventually took the extraordinary step of campaigning for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris during the 2024 election.
For a politician who had previously occupied a senior Republican leadership position, the move demonstrated just how dramatically her relationship with the modern GOP had changed.
Collins Questions Cheney’s Political Influence
Collins now argues that Cheney paid a significant political price.
“It’s not just that she lost her seat, it’s that she has no impact, in my view,” Collins told Martin.
However, Collins did not reject everything Cheney did following Jan. 6.
She said Cheney’s work on the congressional investigation could be respected and explained that she reached her own serious conclusions about Trump’s conduct surrounding the Capitol attack.
Collins was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial in 2021.
The Senate ultimately acquitted Trump because the 57-43 vote fell short of the two-thirds majority required for conviction.
That vote apparently remains a topic between Collins and Trump years later.
According to Collins, Trump frequently reminds her about it when they meet.
“Believe me, the president brings up that vote almost every single time that I see him,” Collins said. “So, he has not forgotten.”
Collins Takes a Different Approach to Trump
The contrast between Collins and Cheney is particularly noteworthy heading into the 2026 midterms.
Both Republican lawmakers have disagreed sharply with Trump on major issues, and both voted against him during his second impeachment proceedings.
Their political paths afterward, however, were very different.
Cheney became increasingly separated from the Republican Party’s Trump-aligned base and eventually campaigned for Harris.
Collins remained a Republican senator and continued working with Trump and other members of the GOP while maintaining disagreements with the president on certain issues.
Now Collins is seeking another term representing Maine.
Her Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, is attempting to unseat her in a closely watched Senate contest that could help determine the balance of power in Washington.
That makes Collins’ comments about political influence more than a discussion about Cheney’s past.
They also highlight the difficult calculations Republican politicians have faced during Trump’s transformation of the GOP.
Cheney Still Has a National Platform
Cheney may no longer hold elected office, but she has not disappeared from public life.
She continues to speak publicly about Trump, Jan. 6 and the future of American politics.
Whether that translates into meaningful influence within the Republican Party is another question.
Collins clearly believes it does not.
Her assessment reflects the enormous political transformation Cheney experienced in only a few years — from a member of House Republican leadership to a former congresswoman openly supporting a Democratic presidential nominee against Trump.
As the 2026 midterms approach, Cheney’s name is once again being used in the broader Republican debate over Trump, party loyalty and how lawmakers can maintain influence when they disagree with the president.
For Collins, there appears to be a clear distinction between breaking with Trump on individual issues and breaking with the Republican coalition altogether.
And years after Cheney lost her seat in Congress, that debate has put her name back into the midterm conversation.
