Maryland Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings Dies At 68

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., speaks during a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, in August.

Patrick Semansky / AP

Updated at 5:55 a.m. ET

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore attorney and civil rights advocate who served in Maryland’s legislature before representing the state in the U.S. House, where he took on a lead role in investigating President Trump, has died. He was 68.

Cummings, the head of the powerful House Oversight and Reform Committee, died early Thursday at Johns Hopkins Hospital due to complications from longstanding health challenges, according to The Associated Press.