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Oct 17, 2019 · US Rep. Elijiah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, a key figure in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump, died on Thursday, according to his office.
- Overview
- Cummings' Humble beginnings
- Working way up
- What happens now?
Elijah Cummings, the longtime Baltimore congressman, died early Thursday, October 17, at the age of 68, his office said. Cummings passed away at Gilchrist Hospice Care, a Johns Hopkins affiliate, at 2:45 a.m. from "complications concerning longstanding health challenges," his office said.
Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, the chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party and Cummings' wife, said in a statement that Cummings was "an honorable man who proudly served his district and the nation with dignity, integrity, compassion and humility."
"He worked until his last breath because he believed our democracy was the highest and best expression of our collective humanity and that our nation's diversity was our promise, not our problem," Rockeymoore Cummings said. "I loved him deeply and will miss him dearly."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered the flags at the Capitol to be flown at half staff in his memory. The White House, too, lowered its flag.
In her weekly press conference on Thursday, Pelosi said she was "devastated by the loss" of Cummings, who she referred to as "the North Star" of the House. She said she may rename a bill to lower prescription drug costs in his honor.
"He was not just a great congressman, he was a great man," House Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said on MSNBC Thursday morning.
A sharecropper's son, Cummings was a formidable orator who passionately advocated for the poor in his black-majority district, which encompasses a large portion of Baltimore as well as more well-to-do suburbs.
As chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, Cummings led multiple investigations of Mr. Trump's dealings, including probes in 2019 relating to the president's family members serving in the White House.
The president responded by criticizing Cummings' district as a "rodent-infested mess" where "no human being would want to live." The comments came weeks after Mr. Trump drew bipartisan condemnation following his calls for Democratic congresswomen of color to get out of the U.S. "right now" and go back to their "broken and crime-infested countries."
Cummings replied that government officials must stop making "hateful, incendiary comments" that only serve to divide and distract the nation from its real problems, including mass shootings and white supremacy.
"Those in the highest levels of the government must stop invoking fear, using racist language and encouraging reprehensible behavior," Cummings said in a speech at the National Press Club.
Cummings told the Baltimore Sun that he had only spoken to Mr. Trump one-on-one once, in 2017. Cummings recalled saying: "Mr. President, you're now 70-something, I'm 60-something. Very soon you and I will be dancing with the angels. The thing that you and I need to do is figure out what we can do — what present can we bring to generations unborn?"
Cummings' career spanned decades in Maryland politics. He rose through the ranks of the Maryland House of Delegates before winning his congressional seat in a special election in 1996 to replace former Representative Kweisi Mfume, who left the seat to lead the NAACP.
Cummings continued his rise in Congress. In 2016, he was the senior Democrat on the House Benghazi Committee, which he said was "nothing more than a taxpayer-funded effort to bring harm to Hillary Clinton's campaign" for president.
Cummings was an early supporter of Barack Obama's presidential bid in 2008.
Throughout his career, Cummings used his fiery voice to highlight the struggles and needs of inner-city residents. He was a firm believer in some much-debated approaches to help the poor and addicted, such as needle exchange programs as a way to reduce the spread of AIDS. Cummings was very popular in his district, where he was a key member of the community.
Cummings said in an interview with "60 Minutes" in January that he was one of the few members of Congress who lived in an inner city environment.
"I like to be among my constituents. Let me tell you something man, if I don't do well in this block I'm in trouble. I mean, if you wanna take a poll, if I lost in this block I might as well go – I might as well stay home," Cummings said in the interview.
According to The Baltimore Sun, Cummings' seat will remain vacant until a special election is held.
Hogan, the state's Republican governor, has 10 days to officially call for the special election, which will take place no earlier than 65 days after that, which would be late February.
Hogan's spokesman, Mike Ricci, expressed uncertainty to The Sun on Thursday morning about when the special election would happen.
As for Cummings' role on the House Oversight committee, Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York will fill in as acting chair until Democrats choose a permanent leader. The timing for when that will happen is unclear, according to a senior Democratic leadership aide who spoke to The Sun on condition of anonymity.
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Oct 17, 2019 · Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings died early Thursday due to complications from longstanding health challenges, his congressional office said. He was 68.
Oct 17, 2019 · WASHINGTON — Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, the sharecroppers' son who fought for racial justice in his beloved Baltimore and in recent years took on the Trump administration, died Thursday....
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- Alexander Smith,Geoff Bennett,Rebecca Shabad,Allan Smith
Oct 17, 2019 · Maryland Rep. Elijah E. Cummings died early Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital due to complications from longstanding health challenges, his congressional office said. He was 68.
Oct 17, 2019 · Veteran US Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings, who was heavily involved with the Trump impeachment inquiry, has died at the age of 68.
