‘Huge Loss for Baltimore, Maryland, and the Nation’: Rep. Elijah Cummings Dies at 68
“This is just such sad news. Rep. Cummings was a force to be reckoned with.”
(By Common Dreams) Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Maryland Democrat and chairman of the House Oversight Committee, died at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of 68 Thursday from “complications concerning longstanding health challenges,” his office said in a statement.
Cummings played a significant role in numerous investigations into President Donald Trump’s conduct and policies, including his mass detention of children at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Maryland Democrat also played a central role in the House impeachment inquiry into the president.
In July, Trump launched vicious and racist attacks on Cummings and his Baltimore district.
“Mr. President, I go home to my district daily. Each morning, I wake up, and I go and fight for my neighbors,” Cummings tweeted in response to the president’s attacks. “It is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the Executive Branch. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.”
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. But, it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents.
— Elijah E. Cummings (@RepCummings) July 27, 2019
News of Cummings’ death was met with an outpouring of grief and well-wishes for his family on social media:
This is just such sad news. @RepCummings was a force to be reckoned with. This is a huge loss for Baltimore, Maryland, and the nation. https://t.co/mw5z4ssbBL
— Vanita Gupta (@vanitaguptaCR) October 17, 2019
My heart is heavy with a flood of tears waking up to the news my friend @RepCummings has died! Rest in peace my friend. May God be with your wife, your family, friends & the City of Baltimore who mourns your loss. May the Nation & the world remember your heat & your fight.
— AprilDRyan (@AprilDRyan) October 17, 2019
Rest in Power Congress Member Elijah Cummings. You were the change you wished to see in the world, a trail blazer and thoughtful leader.
— People for Bernie (@People4Bernie) October 17, 2019
Very very sad to learn of Elijah Cummings death. I got to work with him as we wrote the 2016 Dem platform, and his leadership was a master class in the blend of realism and idealism that can make politics, at its rare best, a noble profession.
— Bill McKibben (@billmckibben) October 17, 2019
In a statement in September, voicing his support for impeachment proceedings against Trump, Cummings said, “When the history books are written about this tumultuous era, I want them to show that I was among those in the House of Representatives who stood up to lawlessness and tyranny.”
Responding to that quote being shared on social media, one user on Twitter responded simply: “And, they will.”
