Baltimore Congressman Elijah Cummings Dies at 68

Elijah Cummings, a longtime congressman from Baltimore, died on Thursday, Oct. 17 at age 68. Cummings was a lifelong resident of Baltimore and spent 23 years in the House of Representatives. Most recently, he served as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

The long-time congressman has been described as a robust, powerful, and compassionate man during his life of public service. Prior to serving in Congress, Cummings worked as a lawyer in Baltimore for almost two decades. He also served on the Maryland House of Delegates for 14 years and was the first African-American to become the speaker pro tempore of the Maryland General Assembly.

Since the 2016 Presidential election, he has been an outspoken critic of President Trump. Cummings oversaw Trump’s former personal lawyer’s, Michael Cohen, testimony to Congress. In addition to this, he fought against adding a question of citizenship onto the U.S. census and was one of the most active Democratic leaders of the impeachment inquiry currently taking place in Congress. On Sept. 24, Cummings said this of the Trump era, “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.”

Although Elijah Cummings was critical of the Trump administration, he was respected on both sides of the political aisle for being a voice of fairness and justice. To establish that, he had a close friendship with Rep. Mark Meadows (R), a Trump ally. During the hearings into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s hearing on Benghazi, Cummings interrupted Rep. Trey Gowdy (R) accusing him of false statements. Astoundingly, Gowdy did not view the interjection as an affront; instead saying of Cummings, “It’s not about politics to him; he says what he believes, and you can tell the ones who are saying it because it was in a memo they got that morning and you can tell the ones who it’s coming from their soul. And with Mr. Cummings, it’s coming from his soul.”

In the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s death, Cummings worked to unify Baltimore. After speaking at Gray’s funeral, he aimed to ease the unrest of the ensuing riots by leading the charge into a struggling Baltimore neighborhood to preach order and unity.

Colleagues, Republicans and Democrats alike, shared their thoughts of Elijah Cummings in the aftermath of his death. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said, “He was a leader of towering character and integrity, whose stirring voice and steadfast values pushed the Congress and country to rise always to a higher purpose.” Rep. Mark Meadows said in a tweet, “There was no stronger advocate and no better friend than Elijah Cummings. I am heartbroken for his wonderful family and staff—please pray for them.”

Former President Barack Obama said in a statement, “And true to the giants of progress he followed into public service, Chairman Cummings stood tallest and most resolute when our country needed him the most.”