Elijah Cummings to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol, the 1st black lawmaker accorded that honor


Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), who died Oct. 17 at age 68, will lie in state at the U.S. Capitol on Thursday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will be among the lawmakers to memorialize Cummings at a ceremony before the public is allowed in to pay their respects. The late chairman of the House Oversight Committee will be only the 32nd person to lie in state at the Capitol, and the first black lawmaker awarded the honor. Among the other Americans to lie in state at the Capitol are 12 presidents, most recently George H.W. Bush, plus Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), preacher Billy Graham, and Rosa Parks.
Cummings' funeral will be Friday at New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, where he worshipped for four decades. His eulogists will include two former presidents, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, as well as Pelosi and Hillary Clinton.
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
From Da Vinci to a golden toilet: a history of museum heists
In the Spotlight Following the ‘spectacular’ events at the Louvre, museums are ‘increasingly being targeted by criminal gangs’
-
Can Gen Z uprisings succeed where other protest movements failed?
Today's Big Question Apolitical and leaderless, youth-led protests have real power but are vulnerable to the strongman opportunist
-
The allegations of Christian genocide in Nigeria
The Explainer West African nation has denied claims from US senator and broadcaster
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suit
Speed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law