Dr. Cheyenne Bryant

Congressman Elijah Cummings has passed away after a storied career in the House of Representatives. The 68-year-old Maryland Democrat, who was no stranger to the spotlight, made headlines over the summer when he came under attack from President Trump.

The president labeled Cummings’ Baltimore district “a rat-infested mess where no human would want to live” and questioned why the congressman wasn’t doing more to find out what happens to the billions of dollars of financial aid going to his city. Cummings, who chaired the House Oversight Committee, had been in poor health recently. His office says he died early this morning at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and he had been suffering from “longstanding health challenges.”

Since 1996, Cummings has represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, as serving as Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, he was a senior member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, serving on both the Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation and the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials.

Cummings began his career of public service in the Maryland House of Delegates, where he served for 14 years and became the first African American in Maryland history to be named Speaker Pro Tem.

Cummings attended Howard University and later went on to graduate from the University of Maryland School of Law. He practiced law for nearly two decades before his election to the House. He also held no less than a dozen honorary doctoral degrees from universities around the nation. He leaves behind a wife, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and three children.

Photo: Getty Images