Former Vice President Dick Cheney and House GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney have pulled a power play against President Trump’s attempt to overthrow the election.

Driving the news: The elder Cheney helped pull together an op-ed from all 10 living former defense secretaries to warn against military intervention to thwart a transfer of power. Liz Cheney pounded out a 21-page argument against plans to try to stall certification of Biden's win.

Why it matters: Each has said little about President Trump over the past four years. But now that they're speaking out, they're making it count — with muscular, blunt cases against obstruction of the inevitable.

• Liz Cheney has ambitions to run for the White House or House speaker. Her dad remains a formidable force in establishment Republican politics.

Between the lines: A source familiar with the Cheneys' thinking tells Axios that given their reverence for the power of the executive, they're offended by Trump's norm-busting behavior and the futile resistance to Biden's victory.

• "They're reestablishing the traditional Republican channel so that in the post-Trump era, people will be comfortable running at that segment of the party, rather than just the populist channel that Trump exploited," the source said.