The Democratic congressman Elijah Cummings died suddenly on Thursday at the age of 68, robbing Capitol Hill of a passionate lawmaker respected on both sides of the political aisle. A sharecropper’s son, Cummings became the powerful chairman of the House oversight committee, one of the three panels leading the investigation into Donald Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. He died in the early hours due to complications from longstanding health problems, his congressional office said on Thursday