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U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland is being treated for “a serious but curable form of cancer,” he announced Wednesday.
Raskin, a Democrat who was just re-elected to his fourth term in Congress, said in a statement that he’s been undergoing tests for several days and was diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. He will soon begin outpatient chemo-immunotherapy at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital and the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown.
Raskin said he planned to keep working through treatment, but noted that he’ll need to be cautious about his exposure to COVID-19, the flu and other viruses, as chemotherapy weakens a patient’s immune system.
Displaying a sense of humor, the congressman wrote: “I am advised that it also causes hair loss and weight gain (although I am still holding out hope for the kind that causes hair gain and weight loss.)”
With support of his family and colleagues, Raskin wrote, “I plan to get through this, and in the meantime, to keep making progress every day in Congress for American democracy.”
As Republicans prepare to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in January, Raskin was recently elected to be the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, a powerful committee that leads investigations.
Raskin, who was a professor of constitutional law for more than 25 years, has been deeply involved in Democrats’ work to investigate former President Donald Trump and the attempted insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. He was the lead House impeachment manager for the second impeachment trial of Trump shortly after Jan. 6 and also has been a member of the high-profile House committee that’s been investigating Jan. 6.
Before winning a seat in Congress in the 2016 election, Raskin was a member of the Maryland state Senate representing Montgomery County.
pamela.wood@thebaltimorebanner.com
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Pamela Wood covers Maryland politics and government. She previously reported for The Baltimore Sun, The Capital and other Maryland newspapers. A graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park, she lives in northern Anne Arundel County.
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