Elijah Cummings

• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation
  • Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials
• Committee on Oversight and Government Reform (Chair)
  • Subcommittee on Domestic Policy.
  • Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Post Office, and District of Columbia.
• Select Committee on Benghazi (Ranking Minority Member 114th Congress)

In December 2010, Edolphus Towns announced that he would not seek the position of ranking minority member of the Oversight Committee in the next Congress, even though his seniority and service as chair would typically result in his filling this post. Reportedly, Towns withdrew because of a lack of support from Nancy Pelosi who feared that he would not be a sufficiently aggressive leader of Democrats in an anticipated struggle with incoming committee chair Republican Darrell Issa.[17] Reportedly, the White House also wanted Towns to be replaced.[18] Cummings defeated Carolyn Maloney in a vote of the House Democratic Caucus.[17]

In his role as chair of the Oversight Committee, Cummings presided over the first public testimony by President Trump's former lawyer, Michael Cohen,[19][20][21] and was a leading figure in the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump.[22] Carolyn Maloney was named acting chair by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and won the subsequent election in the Democratic caucus to serve as permanent chair.[23][24]

• Task Force on Health Care Reform
• Co-founder and Chairman of the Congressional Caucus on Drug Policy
• Congressional Arts Caucus[25]
• Afterschool Caucuses[26]

Cummings was a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.[27] He served as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus[28] during the 108th United States Congress.

Cummings received praise following the congressional panel hearings on steroids in 2008. While investigating the use of steroids in sports, the panel called numerous baseball players to testify, including former single season home run record holder Mark McGwire. After McGwire answered many questions in a vague fashion, Cummings demanded to know if he was "taking the Fifth", referring to the Fifth Amendment. McGwire responded by saying, "I am here to talk about the future, not about the past." The exchange came to epitomize the entire inquiry.[29]

Cummings introduced the Presidential and Federal Records Act Amendments of 2014, a bipartisan bill signed into law by then-President Barack Obama in December 2014. The bill, which Cummings co-sponsored with Representative Darrell Issa, (R-California), is a set of amendments to the Federal Records Act and Presidential Records Act. Among other provisions, the bill modernizes the definition of a federal record to expressly include electronic documents.[30][31]

He supported the Smart Savings Act, a bill that would make the default investment in the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) an age-appropriate target date asset allocation investment fund (L Fund) instead of the Government Securities Investment Fund (G Fund).[32] Cummings called the bill a "commonsense change" and argued that the bill "will enable workers to take full advantage of a diversified fund designed to yield higher returns".[33]

He introduced the All Circuit Review Extension Act, a bill that would extend for three years the authority for federal employees who appeal a judgment of the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB) to file their appeal at any U.S. circuit court of appeals, instead of only the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit.[34] Cummings said that this program is important to extend because it "allows whistleblowers to file appeals where they live rather than being limited to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals".[35] He also said that the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has "an abysmal track record in whistleblower cases".[35]

In remarks at the 2016 Democratic National Convention, Cummings declared: "Our party does not just believe, but understands, that Black Lives Matter. But we also recognize that our community and our law enforcement work best when they work together."[36][37]

Rep. Cummings was shown to be very passionate and dedicated in his beliefs, and could often be seen becoming emotional in public as a result.[38] Cummings was seemingly very agreeable as well. According to many, Cummings would often befriend members of the Republican Party, and was highly respected by both sides of the aisle.[39]

Early in 2007, Cummings began campaigning for Barack Obama's presidential bid, attempting to solidify Obama's support in the African American community. Early in 2008, Obama remained relatively unknown and Congressional Black Caucus support was split with Hillary Clinton.[42] Cummings traveled extensively to campaign for Obama.

External video
Elijah Cummings funeral service, New Psalmist Baptist Church, Baltimore, October 25, 2019, C-SPAN

Barack Obama speaking at the funeral of Elijah Cummings.

Elijah Cummings died on October 17, 2019, at Johns Hopkins Hospital at the age of 68 from "complications concerning longstanding health challenges", his spokeswoman stated.[52][54][55][56] Before his funeral service on October 25 at Baltimore's New Psalmist Baptist Church, where he was a member for 40 years, Cummings lay in state at the U.S. Capitol Building's Statuary Hall on October 24.[57][58][54]

Cummings is the first African American lawmaker to achieve the honor of lying in state at the nation's Capitol.[57] Prior to his death, the most recent people to lie in state were former Senator John McCain and former President George H. W. Bush. Following a state funeral which was attended by family and members of Congress,[59][60] thousands of public mourners were seen entering the U.S. Capitol to see his casket and received greetings from his widow, Maya Rockeymoore-Cummings.[61][59] His casket departed from the U.S. Capitol at around 8:35 p.m.[59]

On October 25, 2019, the official funeral for Cummings was held at the New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore. Many political figures of the Democratic Party, including former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, John Lewis, Amy Klobuchar, Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and his predecessor Kweisi Mfume (who then became his successor) attended the funeral service.[62][63] His friend and colleague Mark Meadows performed the eulogy.[64]

Representative Cummings was in favor of single-payer healthcare. While he supported The Affordable Care Act, he believed the legislation should have added a public option.[65]

Cummings believed that marijuana should be legalized and taxed at the same rate as alcohol.[65]

• Cummings received 13 honorary doctoral degrees from universities across the United States, most recently an honorary doctorate of public service from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2017.[66][67]

Honorary degrees

Location	Date	School	Degree
District of Columbia	2003	Howard University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[68]
Maryland	2006	Morgan State University	Doctor of Laws (LL.D)[69]
Maryland	2007	Goucher College	Doctorate[70]
Maryland	2014	Maryland Institute College of Art	Doctorate[71]
Maryland	2015	Johns Hopkins University	Doctor of Humane Letters (DHL)[72]
Maryland	December 20, 2017	University of Maryland, College Park	Doctor of Public Service[73]