Rep. Elijah Cummings, longtime Baltimore advocate was key figure in Trump impeachment inquiry

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) of Baltimore, a committee chairman known for his devotion to Baltimore and civil rights and for blunt and passionate speechmaking, died of longstanding health problems on Oct 17, his office said. He was 68 years old. Rep Cummings was a key figure in the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump as chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee. He had been absent from Capitol Hill in recent weeks while under medical attention.

Cummings was born in 1951 and raised in Baltimore, where he continued to live. He was one of seven children of Robert Cummings Sr. and Ruth Elma Cummings, née Cochran, who were sharecroppers on land where their ancestors were enslaved. The couple moved to Baltimore in the late 1940s. As a child, Cummings struggled in elementary school and was assigned to special education courses. However, after showing promise in high school at City College, he won Phi Beta Kappa honors at Howard University in Washington. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. He graduated from the University of Maryland School of Law and passed the state bar in 1976. In 1982, with the support of several established city officials, Cummings ran for state delegate and won. He served in the Maryland General Assembly for 14 years and became the first African American in Maryland history to be named speaker pro tem. In late 1995, Cummings decided to run for Maryland’s 7th congressional district in the US House after Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) announced he would resign to become the head of the NAACP. Cummings served as a congressman since 1996.