"Elijah Cummings Said He Was 'Living on Borrowed Time' in 2017"

What "serving at the pleasure of the president" now looks like

Had Congressman Cummings retired a year or two ago, he'd surely still be alive

But he didn't. He chose instead to stay and fight for us, giving up precious, dwindling time with his family and sacrificing possibly years of his life.

Please consider that the next time your tempted to smear all politicians as "congresscritters" who make too much money, don't work hard enough, are cowards and crooks, and deserve whatever disdain we wish to heap on them. Yes, a few of them are despicable, but most of them are decent men and women who love their country and the people in it and want only to serve in the best way they can.

Congressman Cummings gave us his all.

My heart breaks for the nation and Rep. Cummings, but also for his staff and colleagues

A Congressional staff is a family. They work so closely together and share so much - weddings, births, illnesses, etc. -much more than typical workplaces. A loss within that family is devastating. The loss of the leader is unspeakable.

And, in addition to the personal loss and grief, it also throws the office into a very different space, affecting their jobs and futures. When a Member dies in office, the office is essentially deemed to no longer exist. All representational activity immediately shifts to the House Clerk's office since there is no longer a Member representing the District. There's a protocol in place for it, but it's still very difficult and heart-wrenching.

I worked for a Member who died in office. It was unimaginably painful and was especially difficult for the younger staffers who lost their leader and mentor and many of whom had to start finding new jobs because they couldn't all stay on but whose thin resumes made it harder to quickly get new positions.

One of the most poignant moments came when the House Clerk and Sergeant-at-Arms came to the office the morning after the boss died to explain what would happen next. Everyone was in shock - the Member had died suddenly and unexpectedly - and many were weeping openly. The Sergeant-at-Arms, too, was so emotional, he had difficult speaking without choking up - he world's closely with the Members, so a death of one of them is hard for him, too - but he did his best to be gentle and offer as much comfort, support and information as he could.

Afterward, seeing that I was struggling not to fall apart in front of the junior staff, he came over to me and said, "would it be ok if I gave you a hug?" He hugged me and whispered "I know this is hard, but we're a family and we'll all get through it together."

Rep. Cummings's death is a huge loss for his immediate family and for the nation. But it's also a tremendous loss for Rep. Cummings' House family.

Please keep them in your hearts, too.

No words

BREAKING: The G7 will be held at Trump National Doral, the president's property in Florida.

When the time comes, I hope Rep. Cummings's widow and partner Dr. Maya Rockeymore runs for his seat

Not only is she eminently qualified - a Ph.D, social policy expert, chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, former Hill chief of staff, gubernatorial candidate (she dropped out because of her husband's health issues) - she would carry his legacy forward.

The Speaker has ordered Capitol flags to be lowered to half-staff in tribute to a sharecropper's son

Congressman Elijah Cummings deserves all of the honors and tributes he will receive in the coming days. He was a profoundly good and decent man.

His death is a loss and a blow to the nation and a personal loss for me. He was my friend of many years and I admired and loved him more than words can express.

Rest in peace, dear man. You did good and you did well. We'll take it from here.

Original, unretouched photo of Pelosi schooling Trump released

America: Your president actually wrote this letter to a foreign leader

And someone who works for him actually typed it and printed it out on White House letterhead.

What are you gonna do about it?

https://twitter.com/PeterAlexander/status/1184570682757337089