The body of the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings will lie in state in the National Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol this week and a funeral will be held in Baltimore on Friday.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office said in a news release that a formal ceremony open to members of Congress, the Cummings family and invited guests will be held Thursday morning, followed by a public viewing, per The Associated Press.
A wake and funeral is planned the following day at Cummings’ longtime place of worship, New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore. Morgan State University will also host a public viewing Wednesday.
The Democratic congressman from Maryland died early Thursday morning at Gilchrist Hospice Care, a Johns Hopkins affiliate in Baltimore. He was 68.
After undergoing an unspecified medical procedure, Cummings did not return to his office this week, the Baltimore Sun reported. A statement from his office confirmed he passed away due to “complications concerning longstanding health challenges.”
As chairman of the House Oversight Committee, the 23-year veteran of Capitol Hill led multiple investigations into Trump and his administration. These inquiries angered the president, who criticized the congressman’s district in July as a “rodent-infested mess” where “no human being would want to live.” Cummings had represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District since 1996.
Maya Rockeymoore, Cummings’ widow and chairwoman of the Maryland Democratic Party, is expected to run for her late husband’s House seat, according to a report.
“Congressman Cummings was an honorable man who proudly served his district and the nation with dignity, integrity, compassion and humility,” Rockeymoore said in a statement on Thursday after her husband’s passing.
“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 has been an honor to walk by his side on this incredible journey. I loved him deeply and will miss him dearly,” she said
“We lost a giant today,” tweeted presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif. “Congressman Elijah Cummings was a fearless leader, a protector of democracy, and a fighter for the people of Maryland. Our world is dimmer without him in it.”
Cummings and Rockeymoore married in 2008, according to the Examiner.
