Maloney To Lead Oversight Committee After Elijah Cummings' Death

EAST VILLAGE, NY — A longtime Democratic congresswoman from New York City will take over as acting chair of the House Oversight committee after its former chairman, Rep. Elijah Cummings, died early Thursday, according to a committee aide.

Maloney will serve as chair of the Oversight and Reform Committee until Democrats elect a permanent chair at a later time since she is second in seniority on the committee, an aide confirmed to Patch.

With Cummings as chair, the committee was leading an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump.

The 68-year-old Maryland congressman died in Baltimore early Thursday from "complications concerning longstanding health challenges."

Elijah Cummings was a courageous leader and trailblazer for our nation, and a true friend and mentor to me. His open, gracious, fighting spirit will always be an inspiration.

I’ll miss him so much, and my prayers are with his family.
— Carolyn B. Maloney (@CarolynBMaloney) October 17, 2019

Maloney, 73, said Cummings was a "courageous leader and trailblazer for our nation, and a true friend and mentor to me."

"His open, gracious, fighting spirit will always be an inspiration," said Maloney, a Democrat who represents the east side of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

"In an era where our politics have been plagued by coarseness and personal attacks, Elijah represented grace, dignity and empathy under the most trying of circumstances," her statement read.

The lawmaker recently faced her own bout of health issues when she was hospitalized during a vigil for four homeless men killed in Chinatown earlier this month after she had been recovering from bronchitis.

Maloney is among New York Democrats who have called for the impeachment inquiry into Trump.

She is currently in the midst of a crowded primary, her third since being elected to Congress in 1993. Challengers include previous opponent and NYU professor Suraj Patel; Erica Vladimer, a former state Senate staffer who spearheaded sexual harassment hearings in Albany; Lauren Ashcraft, a comedian and project manager at JP Morgan; and Peter Harrison, a housing activist.