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PowerPost Analysis -- John Dingell's final plea for aggressive congressional oversight of Trump

By James Hohmann
February 8 at 9:25 AM

With Joanie Greve

1:49
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2019/02/08/daily-202-john-dingell-s-final-plea-for-aggressive-congressional-oversight-of-trump/5c5d08091b326b66eb098660/?utm_term=.c1f50a316998
John D. Dingell Jr., the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history, died at his home in Detroit on Feb. 7. (Drea Cornejo/The Washington Post)


THE BIG IDEA: The dean has died. John Dingell Jr., the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history, passed away yesterday at 92 of complications from prostate cancer.

His wife, Debbie, who was by his side at their home in Dearborn, Mich., holds the seat that he gave up in 2014 after 29 terms.

History will probably best remember the Michigan Democrat for championing the expansion of health care, from Medicare to Obamacare.

He always said his proudest vote was for the Civil Rights Act in 1964, and Dingell introduced the bill that created the Civil Rights Division in the Justice Department.

For legions of former administration officials who found themselves in Dingell’s crosshairs during his 59 years in the House, however, he will always be most closely associated with vigorous oversight of the executive branch.

Dingell also went aggressively after government contractors who wasted taxpayer money. Stanford President Donald Kennedy was forced to resign in 1991 after Dingell’s investigators uncovered that the university had used federal grants meant for scientific research to help pay for a 72-foot yacht on the San Francisco Bay, along with fancy floral arrangements.

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2019/02/08/daily-202-john-dingell-s-final-plea-for-aggressive-congressional-oversight-of-trump/5c5d08091b326b66eb098660/?utm_term=.ea26c9c265ce