According to the statement, Cummings — who was also a civil rights leader — died at 2:30 a.m. local time at Gilchrist Hospice Care, a Johns Hopkins affiliate in Baltimore, after “complications concerning longstanding health challenges.”The Baltimore Sunreported that he had recently undergone an unspecified medical procedure and had not returned to his office this week as was expected.
The politician had represented Maryland’s 7th congressional district since 1996, after being a member of the state’s House of Delegates for over a decade prior. Recently, he had served as the Chair of the House Oversight Committee, helping to oversee the impeachment inquiry into President Trump.
In response, Cummingstweeted: “Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors.”
“It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch,” he continued. “But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.”
ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Rep. Elijah Cummings.Earl Gibson III/Getty Images
Rep. Elijah Cummings.Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images
The newspaper reports that, during his time in Maryland’s House of Delegates, he became the youngest chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus and was also the first African American to serve as speaker pro tempore.
After being elected to the House of Representatives in 1996, he served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus before becoming the the Chair of the House Oversight Committee, according to thePost.
source: people.com
