Members of Congress are in mourning following the sudden death of their revered colleague Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who was remembered Thursday as a "friend to all."
Cummings died early Thursday morning due to "complications concerning longstanding health challenges," and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) described reading the news as a "gut punch."
"He was an amazing man," Schumer told MSNBC. "He was not just a great congressman. He was a great man. He had a combination of being strong when he had to be … but also being kind, and decent, and caring, and honorable."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said that "today we have lost a giant," remembering Cummings as a "public servant to his core," while Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) called his death "a loss for Baltimore, Congress, and the country" and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) said, "We've lost a leader like no other."
Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), who was close with Cummings, tweeted, "There was no stronger advocate and no better friend than Elijah Cummings ... I will miss him dearly." Cummings was "a friend to all," observed Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who noted that his "passion for serving his beloved city was easy to see in everything that he did, and his determination to fight for equality and civil rights will never be forgotten."
President Trump in a tweet offered his condolences and remembered Cummings' "strength, passion and wisdom."
The congressman's widow, Maryland Democratic Party Chair Maya Cummings, said in a statement, "He worked until his last breath because he believed our democracy was the highest and best expression of our collective humanity and that our nation's diversity was our promise, not our problem. It's been an honor to walk by his side on this incredible journey. I loved him deeply and will miss him dearly."
-
Political cartoons for November 2Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the 22nd amendment, homeless camps, and more
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
‘Never more precarious’: the UN turns 80The Explainer It’s an unhappy birthday for the United Nations, which enters its ninth decade in crisis
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
