Elijah Eugene Cummings (January 18, 1951 – October 17, 2019) was an American politician and civil rights advocate who served in the United States House of Representatives for Maryland's 7th congressional district from 1996 until his death in 2019, when he was succeeded by his predecessor Kweisi Mfume.

His predecessor, Lena King Lee, raised funds and campaigned for him; years later, Cummings credited her with launching his political career.

[17][18] 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.

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.

[31] 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.

[41] The five-term Congressman for Maryland's 7th congressional district, Kweisi Mfume, resigned in February 1996 to take the presidency of the NAACP.

[citation needed] Early in 2008, Obama remained relatively unknown and Congressional Black Caucus support was split with Hillary Clinton.

[citation needed] Maryland's 7th congressional district: Results 1996–2018[45][46] Cummings lived in the Madison Park community in Baltimore and was an active member of the New Psalmist Baptist Church.

[49][50] In June 2011, his nephew Christopher Cummings, son of his brother James, was murdered at his off-campus house near Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, where he was a student.

[54] Cummings was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer called thymic carcinoma in 1994 while serving as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates.

[55] 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.

[59] 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,[61][62] thousands of public mourners were seen entering the U.S. Capitol to see his casket and received greetings from his widow, Maya Rockeymoore-Cummings.

[63][61] His casket departed from the U.S. Capitol at around 8:35 p.m.[61] 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.