Dick Cheney, the 46th vice president of the United States who served under President George W. Bush, passed away on Monday at the age of 84. His family announced Tuesday morning that the cause was complications from pneumonia and cardiac and vascular disease.

Cheney, one of the most powerful and influential figures in American politics over the past century, held a long and consequential career in public service. He previously served as White House chief of staff for President Gerald Ford, as the U.S. representative for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district from 1979-1989, and briefly as House minority whip in 1989.

He later served as secretary of defense under President George H.W. Bush before becoming vice president during the George W. Bush administration, where he played a leading behind-the-scenes role in the response to the Sept. 11 attacks and in coordinating the Global War on Terrorism. Cheney was also an early proponent of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, falsely alleging that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed weapons of mass destruction and had ties to al-Qaeda.

Cheney’s personal life was not without controversy.

In 2006, he accidentally shot Harry Whittington, a then-78-year-old Texas attorney, during a quail hunt at Armstrong Ranch in Kenedy County, Texas — an incident that became the subject of national attention.

Following his death, tributes and reflections poured in from across the political spectrum.

“I am saddened to learn of the passing of former Vice President Dick Cheney,” former Vice President Kamala Harris posted on X. “Vice President Cheney was a devoted public servant, from the halls of Congress to many positions of leadership in multiple presidential administrations,” she added. “His passing marks the loss of a figure who, with a strong sense of dedication, gave so much of his life to the country he loved.”

Harris was one of the Democrats that the Republican had supported in recent years following Trump’s ascent to the White House.

Former President Joe Biden, who served as former President Obama’s vice president, said on X that “Dick Cheney devoted his life to public service — from representing Wyoming in Congress, to serving as Secretary of Defense, and later as vice president of the United States.”

“While we didn’t agree on much, he believed, as I do, that family is the beginning, middle, and end. Jill and I send our love to his wife Lynne, their daughters Liz and Mary, and all of their grandchildren,” he added.

Human Rights Campaign Senior Vice President of Federal and State Affairs JoDee Winterhof reflected on Cheney’s complicated legacy within the LGBTQ community.

“That someone like Dick Cheney, whose career was rife with anti-LGBTQ+ animus and stained by cruelty, could have publicly changed his mind on marriage equality because of his love for his daughter is a testament to the power and necessity of our stories.”

Advocacy groups have sharply criticized the Trump-Vance administration over its decision to limit the number of refugees admitted to the U.S. each year to 7,500.

The Associated Press notes the Biden-Harris administration in 2024 said it would admit up to 125,000 refugees into the country.

The Federal Registrar on Oct. 31 published a White House memorandum that noted the 7,500 cap. It states the “admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa … and other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands.”

The Council for Global Equality; Human Rights First; Immigration Equality; and the Organization for Refuge, Asylum, and Migration in a joint statement they issued on Oct. 31 “decried the refugee admissions goal and its life-threatening impacts for LGBTQI+ refugees awaiting resettlement to the United States.”

“The PD (Presidential Determination), which is set at a historic low of 7,500 individuals, prioritizes white South Africans (Afrikaners) and ‘victims of illegal or unjust discrimination’ — the Trump administration’s catch phrase to offer protection to far-right extremists — in a blatant attempt to politicize the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, erode our nation’s legal obligations, and reject our historical commitments to the most vulnerable,” reads the statement.

These groups and other advocacy groups have previously said the Trump-Vance administration’s overall immigration policies have put LGBTQ migrants and asylum seekers at increased risk.

The State Department’s 2024 human rights report that it released in August “erased” LGBTQ people. Immigration Equality in response to this omission noted these reports “serve as key evidence for asylum seekers, attorneys, judges, and advocates who rely on them to assess human rights conditions and protection claims worldwide.”

The Trump-Vance administration on Jan. 20 — the day it took office — issued several immigration-specific executive orders that, among other things, suspended the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program and shut down the CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) One app that allowed asylum seekers to schedule an appointment at a U.S. port of entry on the Mexican border.

Individual refugees and advocacy groups have challenged the suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program in federal court.

Casa Frida, an organization that works with upwards of 300 LGBTQ asylum seekers and migrants throughout Mexico, is among the organizations that had to curtail programs after the Trump-Vance administration in January suspended nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending.

“The Trump administration’s decision to put a cap of only 7,500 refugees for the year will have mortal consequences for thousands of LGBTQI+ refugees,” said Immigration Equality Executive Director Aaron C. Morris.

ORAM Executive Director Steve Roth said the 7,500 cap is a “moral failure” and “a deliberate abandonment of the world’s most vulnerable.”

Human Rights First President Uzra Zeya is a career Foreign Service officer who was most recently the under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights during the Biden-Harris administration. Zeya in a statement described the cap as “a national disgrace and yet another new low for this administration.”

“It endangers the lives of refugees in dire need of resettlement around the world,” she said. “All too often LGBTQI people who escape persecution in their home countries are targeted again in neighboring countries,” added Zeya. “The lives of real people are on the line. Members of Congress must demand that the administration restore this vital lifeline.”

President Trump announced Friday that he is commuting the sentence of former New York Congressman George Santos.

Santos, who represented New York’s Third District, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. He admitted to stealing the identities of 11 people — including several family members — to make donations to his own campaign.

“I just signed a Commutation, releasing George Santos from prison, IMMEDIATELY,” Trump posted on Truth Social, his social media platform. “Good luck George, have a great life!”

The commutation follows an open letter published Monday in the South Shore Press on Long Island — filled with flattery and what the 37-year-old disgraced congressman and felon called a “passionate plea to President Trump.”

“You have always been a man of second chances, a leader who believes in redemption and renewal,” Santos wrote. “I am asking you now, from the depths of my heart, to extend that same belief to me.”

Trump, also a convicted felon, granted clemency to Santos — the first openly LGBTQ Republican elected to Congress — after he had served just 84 days of his more than seven-year sentence.

In the same post announcing his decision, Trump also claimed Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut “is far worse” by lying about his Vietnam War record.

Even before being sworn into the House of Representatives, Santos had been caught lying about his past. He once claimed to be Jewish despite being raised Catholic, falsely said his mother had been “the first female executive at a major financial institution” and survived the 9/11 terrorist attacks — though The New York Times reported she was living in Brazil at the time as a domestic worker. He also fabricated large portions of his education and career history.

“Well, darlings … The curtain falls, the spotlight dims, and the rhinestones are packed. From the halls of Congress to the chaos of cable news, what a ride it’s been!” Santos wrote on X in June. “Was it messy? Always. Glamorous? Occasionally. Honest? I tried … most days.”