John Dingell, the longest serving member of the US Congress in history, has died, according to Detroit News.
Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, was 92.
Before his reported death, Dingell had entered hospice in poor health on Wednesday. His wife, Representative Debbie Dingell, had said she did not attend Donald Trump‘s second State of the Union on Tuesday in order to be with her husband.
“He is my love and we have been a team for nearly 40 years,” Ms Dingell tweeted on Wednesday.
Dingell was known as a an old-school Democrat who retired from his position, and was honoured by former President Barack Obama as “one of the most influential legislators of all time”. Mr Obama then awarded the former congressman the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014.
His death follows roughly a year after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, according to his family. He decided not to treat the cancer, and instead chose to enter hospice care.
Dingell spent nearly six decades in Congress, and was known for his work on several landmark legislative victories. Those included the 1965 legislation that created Medicare, the 1973 Endangered Species Act, and the Affordable Care Act, which Mr Obama saw pass as his signature legislative achievement in 2010.
The former congressman was born in 1926, and grew up during the Great Depression. He then served in the US Army, before studying at Georgetown University.
After death, Dingell regularly used his Twitter account to poke fun at Mr Trump, and regularly challenged his policy on the platform.
