Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle told lawmakers on Monday that the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump was the agency’s “most significant operational failure” in decades, while also broadly laying out how it prepared for the rally.

Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee — her first public appearance before Congress since the July 13 shooting, where she is expected to face hours of fierce bipartisan criticism from a panel usually known for partisan disagreements.

Cheatle, in her opening statement to the committee, appeared to try to clean up previous remarks from public interviews since the shooting, telling the panel none of her previous comments “should be interpreted to place blame for this failure on our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners who supported the Secret Service” in Butler, Pennsylvania.

She also indirectly touched on one area she is all but guaranteed to get questions on: If the Secret Service denied requests to beef up Trump’s security detail. She offered broad details, which she is sure to get pressed on further, about how the event was planned.

“The level of security provided for the former president increased well before the campaign and has been steadily increasing as threats evolve,” Cheatle told lawmakers.

The Washington Post reported over the weekend that officials at the Secret Service turned down requests from Trump’s security detail for more resources and personnel in the two years leading up to the Pennsylvania shooting. Cheatle, during early questions from Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), said “no assets [were] denied for that event.”

“The assets that were requested for that day were given,” she said.

Cheatle on Monday also said that the Secret Service started planning for Trump’s rally shortly after it was announced, including “a full assessment of the Butler Farm Show Grounds to identify security vulnerabilities.” She added that after the shooting she also boosted Trump’s protective resources.

Cheatle’s acknowledgment of Secret Service failures likely won’t quash the bipartisan criticism she will face for hours. Underscoring the high-profile nature of the hearing, Speaker Mike Johnson was in the room as the hearing kicked off.

Comer kicked off the hearing telling Cheatle that she should resign.

“We are concerned the Secret Service lacks the proper management to keep protectees safe from bad actors,” Comer said, adding that under Cheatle’s leadership, “we question whether anyone is safe.”

Raskin said that the panel would be asking “hard questions” of Cheatle, while also calling the shooting a “double failure” and using his opening statement to make a broader push for new gun laws.

During a visit Monday to the site of the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, lawmakers climbed onto the roof used to open fire on the rally and later expressed deep doubts about official explanations for why Secret Service agents weren’t stationed there.

Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has said agents weren’t put on the roof because the slope made it unsafe. But House Homeland Security members said they walked around on the roof Monday without difficulty.

“I can tell you that, just looking at the site, immediately there are things that just hit you, and the fact that those things weren’t covered is unacceptable, completely unacceptable,” Rep. Carlos Gimenez (R-Fla.) told reporters during the Butler, Pennsylvania, visit. “I was on that roof, the roof that the director said was really, really dangerous for Secret Service and other personnel to be on. I’m 70 years old. There’s nothing unsafe about that.”

Gimenez, a former SWAT team member, also posted a video on X that he recorded on the now-infamous roof.

“One thing’s for clear, it’s for sure: It’s way too close,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) said after visiting the shooter’s vantage point. “You know, being up on the rooftop and looking at where the president was relative to the roof is so close for a sniper.”

McCaul also questioned why a counter-sniper team wasn’t stationed on a nearby water tower, which he said had a clear line of sight to where officials say Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, repeatedly fired an AR-15-style rifle, wounding Trump, killing one rallygoer and injuring several others.

With questions still swirling about why warnings to local police about the suspect were slow to reach Secret Service personnel, Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-Tenn.) said he learned Monday that local authorities were excluded from the Secret Service command posts for the July 13 rally, even though such officials had been granted that access at similar events in the past.

“Normally, the local law enforcement guys are allowed to sit in the Secret Service … control room,” Green said. “Today, the locals shared with us that they were not allowed to have anybody in there. So, that makes you want to dig a little further, right?”

Democratic members who joined in visiting the site of the Trump campaign rally in Butler expressed concern that campaigns had too much influence over the selection of event sites and appeared to be able to override security personnel despite complaints about logistical complexity.

“Who is in charge? Is it the Secret Service? Or is it the campaign?” asked Rep. Lou Correa (D-Calif.).

“I think there’s a lot of issues here that probably strongly suggested we never should have had the event here to start with,” added Rep. Glenn Ivey (D-Md.). “That doesn’t excuse the failures of the Secret Service that day. I think we definitely want to make sure we investigate those and get to the bottom of what happened. … I looked at all of the roofs that were around and my count was around 12 or so. And I just thought, maybe this isn’t the best place to have done this.”

As Democrats at the House Oversight Committee hearing back in Washington joined Republicans in calling for Cheatle’s resignation, the Democratic members on the Monday visit to western Pennsylvania stopped short of doing that.

“We [are] not quite through with all of the gathering of information,” the top Democrat on the Homeland Security panel, Rep. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, said when asked whether he’d join calls for Cheatle to step down or be fired. “But we are not reluctant once, we gather it to make decisions, but we want to make sure we have all the information.”

Top House Oversight Democrat Jamie Raskin told Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle that he believes she should resign, capping off an hourslong hearing into security failures surrounding the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

“I don’t want to add to the director’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, but I will be joining the chairman in calling for the resignation of the director, just because I think that this relationship is irretrievable at this point,” Raskin (D-Md.) said, referring to Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.).

“I think that the director has lost the confidence of Congress at a very urgent and tender moment in the history of the country,” Raskin continued.

Comer earlier in the hearing called for Cheatle’s resignation: “We are concerned the Secret Service lacks the proper management to keep protectees safe from bad actors,” Comer said, adding that under Cheatle’s leadership, “we question whether anyone is safe.”

As he wrapped up the hearing, Comer said that he and Raskin would also be sending a letter requesting Cheatle’s resignation “as a step toward accountability in what happened.”

Cheatle defended her decision to stay in her position during the hearing. But she’s faced fierce, and growing, bipartisan criticism during the hearing as lawmakers vented frustration over her inability to answer several questions because investigations are still ongoing.

House Republicans have pulled two government funding bills scheduled for a floor vote this week, signaling further peril for leadership’s doomed efforts to pass all 2025 spending measures before the August recess.

Republicans’ funding bill for the Agriculture Department and the FDA, in addition to the Financial Services spending bill, will not be considered on the floor as originally planned, according to three sources familiar with the whipping problems.

Both measures failed to clear the floor last summer, thanks to politically unpalatable funding levels and conservative policy riders, including language blocking abortion and contraceptive protections. Those same issues are ensnaring GOP leaders yet again, despite an effort to dial back on some of the more controversial provisions that previously stymied floor passage.

GOP leaders still plan to put their Energy-Water and Interior-Environment funding bills on the floor in the coming days, and the House Rules Committee is expected to meet Monday afternoon on all four funding bills. But the prospects for passing the Agriculture-FDA and Financial Services bills next week, let alone Republicans’ remaining fiscal 2025 measures, are grim and looking increasingly unlikely.

There are three other bills with arguably even worse odds for floor passage, tentatively slated for floor action next week: Labor-HHS-Education, Commerce-Justice-Science and Transportation-HUD.

Rumors are already flying that GOP leaders might abandon their appropriations push altogether, leaving at the end of this week for August recess rather than stick around to sustain more self-inflicted spending wounds.

Top Republican appropriators decided last month to leave out controversial language blocking access to abortion pills in the funding measure that covers the FDA, after that language prompted opposition last year from several swing-district Republicans. The policy would have effectively overturned the FDA’s decision in early 2023 that allows mifepristone abortion pills to be sold at retail pharmacies and delivered by mail.

House GOP leaders have also heard conflicting demands over the contents of their financial services spending measure, which would block a D.C. law that prevents employers from discriminating against workers who seek contraception or family planning services.

That financial services measure divides House Republicans on cannabis policy as well — GOP appropriators nixed language that would have made it easier for financial institutions to serve certain cannabis businesses.

The decision to yank the Agriculture-FDA and Financial Services spending bills from the floor comes after the surprise failure of Republicans’ $7 billion Legislative Branch funding measure earlier this month.

That bill, which is the smallest out of a dozen annual appropriations bills, should’ve been an easy win for GOP leaders. But conservative consternation over a long-standing freeze on a cost-of-living pay raise for members of Congress, in addition to heightened funding levels, ultimately tanked the bill, with 10 Republicans joining Democrats to defeat the measure on the floor.

Meredith Lee Hill, Sarah Ferris and Jordain Carney contributed to this report.

The chair of the House Intelligence Committee is warning that President Joe Biden’s health is endangering national security — and he’s pushing for the Cabinet to decide “a way forward.”

Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) spoke a day after the 81-year-old president withdrew from his reelection campaign and pledged to serve out the remaining six months of his term.

“With national security threats, you need a commander in chief to be able to make decisive and immediate decisions,” Turner said in an interview. “In this instance, where the president seems unable to digest complex information and render a decision, we’re left with our national security environment being adrift.”

Turner stopped short of calling for Biden to step down, but a growing chorus of Republicans have done so after Biden’s shaky performance in the June 27 debate.

The Ohio Republican, who has criticized the administration’s aid to Ukraine as inadequate, argued that Biden showed an unwillingness to make decisions about that aid even before he exited the race. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO officials have pressed Biden to remove restrictions on how Ukraine can use U.S.-supplied weapons, “and he’s been unable to make a decision to do so,” Turner said of Biden.

“My concern is that as there are more evolving national security issues, his indecisiveness will leave the White House without a president and a commander in chief,” Turner said.

“His staff has sort of devolved into a NATO-style committee decision-making process,” Turner added. “If they all agree, then it does appear that decisions get made, but if they don’t all agree, like NATO, they dissolve into a lack of consensus, which I think gives the president no direction, and indecisiveness is a really great threat at this point.”

Partnership for Public Service CEO Max Stier, meanwhile, raised other election-related national security concerns about Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Stier said they are both potentially putting the country at risk because neither has presidential transition organizations up and running to handle national security issues effectively.

The organization’s Center for Presidential Transition advises candidates to start transition planning at least six months before the election, to ensure a smooth transition of national security responsibilities to an incoming administration.

Historically, Stier said, the “handoff of power is a moment of maximum vulnerability for a country,” but the Partnership for Public Service’s recommendation is also based on the 9/11 Commission’s findings that slow transitions and unconfirmed senior leaders were obstacles ahead of the attacks.

“In the modern world, where the risk portfolio is so large and fast-moving, a presidential candidate has a responsibility to prepare for the possibility of winning and having to take over the government a lot earlier than historically had been done,” Stier said.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat who had served in Congress since 1995, has died.

Jackson Lee, who disclosed less than two months ago that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, was 74.

Her family announced her death on Friday evening: “With incredible grief for our loss yet deep gratitude for the life she shared with us, we announce the passing of United States Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of the 18th Congressional District of Texas.” Jackson Lee’s death was confirmed by Lillie Conley, her chief of staff.

Along with fellow Democrat Lloyd Doggett, she was the senior member of the current Texas delegation.

“As a powerful voice for our Constitution and human rights, she fought tirelessly to advance fairness, equity and justice for all,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote on X in a statement that also saluted “her relentless determination.”

Jackson Lee was known as a strong advocate for women and minorities, serving proudly in the same Texas district once represented by Barbara Jordan, the first African American woman elected to Congress from the South since the Reconstruction era of the 19th century.

“Her unyielding zest for justice and fair play could never be suppressed,” said Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) in a statement. “She worked so hard for what she believed in and made all of us around her work just as hard. I will miss my buddy, who refused to let the world silence her voice.”

A vocal presence in the Congressional Black Caucus, Jackson Lee attempted to combat domestic violence through an expansion of the Violence Against Woman Act and worked to have Juneteenth recognized as federal holiday, which occurred in 2021.

The holiday marks the day (June 19) in 1865 that the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom, and it had long been celebrated in Texas.

In 2019, following in the footsteps of the late Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), she offered a proposal to study the idea of reparations for descendants of former slaves.

“We want to be responsive to all Americans and we know how diverse this country has become,” Jackson Lee said in an interview at the time. “We have consistently, as Democrats, wanted to say to the American people that we are for the people.”

That proposal, however, stalled.

In its obituary, the Texas Tribune noted how hard she had fought for Houston: “She often used her trademark chutzpah to fight for federal funds to be sent to Houston. In 2009, she secured $1 billion for the city’s light system after cornering then-Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood ahead of then-President Barack Obama’s first joint address to Congress. She could reliably be found in the aisle ahead of the State of the Union address, among the few members to directly meet with the president on his way to the dais.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote on X: “She was an extraordinary advocate for her district and her values, and her impact and achievements will be long remembered.”

Fellow lawmakers in Texas saluted her legacy Friday night.

Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) wrote on X: “Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was a fierce advocate for Houston and her constituents. No one worked harder for her community and if Houston needed something, she got it done.”

In discussing her work on behalf of Houston, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) echoed Allred in his statement.

“It is with profound sadness that I acknowledge the passing of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a devoted leader, a proud-fellow Houstonian, and someone who I was proud to call a friend,” Hunt said.

He added: “Although we had our political disagreements, there were many moments with her, both public and private, that showed me that bipartisanship and service to country first can still bring members of Congress together.”

Sen. Ted Cruz also noted her advocacy for her home city. The Texas Republican added on X: “I will always cherish our friendship & the laughs we shared throughout the years.”

A native of Queens, New York, who was born on Jan. 12, 1950, Jackson Lee graduated from Yale and earned her law degree at the University of Virginia.

She was a judge in Houston before she was elected to Houston City Council in 1989, then ran for Congress in 1994. That year, she ousted fellow Democrat Craig Washington, who had been chosen to replace the late Mickey Leland, but established, according to the Almanac of American Politics, “the worst attendance record in Congress.”

Jackson Lee routinely won reelection to Congress with ease. The few times she faced a challenger, she never carried less than two-thirds of the vote.

She was an advocate for gay rights and an early opponent of the Iraq War in 2003. Jackson Lee also could be counted on to chafe at Republican stances on numerous issues over the years. “First of all I’d like our Republican friends to stop a war on the working people of America,” she said in 2012 amid ongoing budget battles.

She attracted criticism of her own. The 2012 edition of the Almanac of American Politics, while saying “she is prolific in proposing bills and offering amendments on the floor,” noted that in the Washingtonian’s annual rating of lawmakers, “she has routinely taken top honors in the poll’s ‘Biggest Windbag’ category.” Part of what established that reputation was a lengthy speech she gave at a memorial service for music superstar Michael Jackson in Los Angeles in 2009.

In 2019, Jackson Lee stepped down from two leadership positions on the House Judiciary Committee and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the fundraising of the Congressional Black Caucus, following a lawsuit from a former employee who said her sexual assault complaint was mishandled. “Other Judiciary panel members were uncomfortable with the optics of having a lawmaker mired in a messy legal battle heading a panel with jurisdiction over crime,” POLITICO reported at the time.

Last year, she ran for mayor of Houston only to be defeated by Democratic state Sen. John Whitmire in a runoff in December.

At her election night party in December, Jackson Lee thanked her supporters, congratulated Whitmire and said she was committed to working with him. “It’s sweeter to be saying what a sweet victory it is. It’s equally as sweet to acknowledge we put up a good fight,” Jackson Lee said.

On June 2, Jackson Lee, who was seeking another term in Congress, announced that she was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer.

“I am confident that my doctors have developed the best possible plan to target my specific disease,” Jackson Lee said. “The road ahead will not be easy, but I stand in faith that God will strengthen me.”

Pelosi concluded her statement Friday night by saying: “All of us in the House Democratic Caucus were blessed to know Congresswoman Jackson Lee and we will miss her dearly. May it be a comfort to her husband, Elwyn, her children, Jason and Erica, her grandchildren, Ellison and Roy, and the entire Lee family that so many in the Congress and across the country mourn their loss and are praying for them during this sad time.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat who had served in Congress since 1995, has died.

Jackson Lee, who disclosed less than two months ago that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, was 74.

Her family announced her death on Friday evening: “With incredible grief for our loss yet deep gratitude for the life she shared with us, we announce the passing of United States Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of the 18th Congressional District of Texas.” Jackson Lee’s death was confirmed by Lillie Conley, her chief of staff.

Along with fellow Democrat Lloyd Doggett, she was the senior member of the current Texas delegation.

“As a powerful voice for our Constitution and human rights, she fought tirelessly to advance fairness, equity and justice for all,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote on X in a statement that also saluted “her relentless determination.”

Jackson Lee was known as a strong advocate for women and minorities, serving proudly in the same Texas district once represented by Barbara Jordan, the first African American woman elected to Congress from the South since the Reconstruction era of the 19th century.

“Her unyielding zest for justice and fair play could never be suppressed,” said Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) in a statement. “She worked so hard for what she believed in and made all of us around her work just as hard. I will miss my buddy, who refused to let the world silence her voice.”

A vocal presence in the Congressional Black Caucus, Jackson Lee attempted to combat domestic violence through an expansion of the Violence Against Woman Act and worked to have Juneteenth recognized as federal holiday, which occurred in 2021.

The holiday marks the day (June 19) in 1865 that the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom, and it had long been celebrated in Texas.

In 2019, following in the footsteps of the late Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), she offered a proposal to study the idea of reparations for descendants of former slaves.

“We want to be responsive to all Americans and we know how diverse this country has become,” Jackson Lee said in an interview at the time. “We have consistently, as Democrats, wanted to say to the American people that we are for the people.”

That proposal, however, stalled.

In its obituary, the Texas Tribune noted how hard she had fought for Houston: “She often used her trademark chutzpah to fight for federal funds to be sent to Houston. In 2009, she secured $1 billion for the city’s light system after cornering then-Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood ahead of then-President Barack Obama’s first joint address to Congress. She could reliably be found in the aisle ahead of the State of the Union address, among the few members to directly meet with the president on his way to the dais.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote on X: “She was an extraordinary advocate for her district and her values, and her impact and achievements will be long remembered.”

Fellow lawmakers in Texas saluted her legacy Friday night.

Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) wrote on X: “Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was a fierce advocate for Houston and her constituents. No one worked harder for her community and if Houston needed something, she got it done.”

In discussing her work on behalf of Houston, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) echoed Allred in his statement.

“It is with profound sadness that I acknowledge the passing of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a devoted leader, a proud-fellow Houstonian, and someone who I was proud to call a friend,” Hunt said.

He added: “Although we had our political disagreements, there were many moments with her, both public and private, that showed me that bipartisanship and service to country first can still bring members of Congress together.”

Sen. Ted Cruz also noted her advocacy for her home city. The Texas Republican added on X: “I will always cherish our friendship & the laughs we shared throughout the years.”

A native of Queens, New York, who was born on Jan. 12, 1950, Jackson Lee graduated from Yale and earned her law degree at the University of Virginia.

She was a judge in Houston before she was elected to Houston City Council in 1989, then ran for Congress in 1994. That year, she ousted fellow Democrat Craig Washington, who had been chosen to replace the late Mickey Leland, but established, according to the Almanac of American Politics, “the worst attendance record in Congress.”

Jackson Lee routinely won reelection to Congress with ease. The few times she faced a challenger, she never carried less than two-thirds of the vote.

She was an advocate for gay rights and an early opponent of the Iraq War in 2003. Jackson Lee also could be counted on to chafe at Republican stances on numerous issues over the years. “First of all I’d like our Republican friends to stop a war on the working people of America,” she said in 2012 amid ongoing budget battles.

She attracted criticism of her own. The 2012 edition of the Almanac of American Politics, while saying “she is prolific in proposing bills and offering amendments on the floor,” noted that in the Washingtonian’s annual rating of lawmakers, “she has routinely taken top honors in the poll’s ‘Biggest Windbag’ category.” Part of what established that reputation was a lengthy speech she gave at a memorial service for music superstar Michael Jackson in Los Angeles in 2009.

In 2019, Jackson Lee stepped down from two leadership positions on the House Judiciary Committee and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the fundraising of the Congressional Black Caucus, following a lawsuit from a former employee who said her sexual assault complaint was mishandled. “Other Judiciary panel members were uncomfortable with the optics of having a lawmaker mired in a messy legal battle heading a panel with jurisdiction over crime,” POLITICO reported at the time.

Last year, she ran for mayor of Houston only to be defeated by Democratic state Sen. John Whitmire in a runoff in December.

At her election night party in December, Jackson Lee thanked her supporters, congratulated Whitmire and said she was committed to working with him. “It’s sweeter to be saying what a sweet victory it is. It’s equally as sweet to acknowledge we put up a good fight,” Jackson Lee said.

On June 2, Jackson Lee, who was seeking another term in Congress, announced that she was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer.

“I am confident that my doctors have developed the best possible plan to target my specific disease,” Jackson Lee said. “The road ahead will not be easy, but I stand in faith that God will strengthen me.”

Pelosi concluded her statement Friday night by saying: “All of us in the House Democratic Caucus were blessed to know Congresswoman Jackson Lee and we will miss her dearly. May it be a comfort to her husband, Elwyn, her children, Jason and Erica, her grandchildren, Ellison and Roy, and the entire Lee family that so many in the Congress and across the country mourn their loss and are praying for them during this sad time.”

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houston Democrat who had served in Congress since 1995, has died.

Jackson Lee, who disclosed less than two months ago that she had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, was 74.

Her family announced her death on Friday evening: “With incredible grief for our loss yet deep gratitude for the life she shared with us, we announce the passing of United States Representative Sheila Jackson Lee of the 18th Congressional District of Texas.” Jackson Lee’s death was confirmed by Lillie Conley, her chief of staff.

Along with fellow Democrat Lloyd Doggett, she was the senior member of the current Texas delegation.

“As a powerful voice for our Constitution and human rights, she fought tirelessly to advance fairness, equity and justice for all,” former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wrote on X in a statement that also saluted “her relentless determination.”

Jackson Lee was known as a strong advocate for women and minorities, serving proudly in the same Texas district once represented by Barbara Jordan, the first African American woman elected to Congress from the South since the Reconstruction era of the 19th century.

“Her unyielding zest for justice and fair play could never be suppressed,” said Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) in a statement. “She worked so hard for what she believed in and made all of us around her work just as hard. I will miss my buddy, who refused to let the world silence her voice.”

A vocal presence in the Congressional Black Caucus, Jackson Lee attempted to combat domestic violence through an expansion of the Violence Against Woman Act and worked to have Juneteenth recognized as federal holiday, which occurred in 2021.

The holiday marks the day (June 19) in 1865 that the last enslaved African Americans in Galveston, Texas, finally learned of their freedom, and it had long been celebrated in Texas.

In 2019, following in the footsteps of the late Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), she offered a proposal to study the idea of reparations for descendants of former slaves.

“We want to be responsive to all Americans and we know how diverse this country has become,” Jackson Lee said in an interview at the time. “We have consistently, as Democrats, wanted to say to the American people that we are for the people.”

That proposal, however, stalled.

In its obituary, the Texas Tribune noted how hard she had fought for Houston: “She often used her trademark chutzpah to fight for federal funds to be sent to Houston. In 2009, she secured $1 billion for the city’s light system after cornering then-Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood ahead of then-President Barack Obama’s first joint address to Congress. She could reliably be found in the aisle ahead of the State of the Union address, among the few members to directly meet with the president on his way to the dais.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote on X: “She was an extraordinary advocate for her district and her values, and her impact and achievements will be long remembered.”

Fellow lawmakers in Texas saluted her legacy Friday night.

Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) wrote on X: “Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee was a fierce advocate for Houston and her constituents. No one worked harder for her community and if Houston needed something, she got it done.”

In discussing her work on behalf of Houston, Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Texas) echoed Allred in his statement.

“It is with profound sadness that I acknowledge the passing of Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a devoted leader, a proud-fellow Houstonian, and someone who I was proud to call a friend,” Hunt said.

He added: “Although we had our political disagreements, there were many moments with her, both public and private, that showed me that bipartisanship and service to country first can still bring members of Congress together.”

Sen. Ted Cruz also noted her advocacy for her home city. The Texas Republican added on X: “I will always cherish our friendship & the laughs we shared throughout the years.”

A native of Queens, New York, who was born on Jan. 12, 1950, Jackson Lee graduated from Yale and earned her law degree at the University of Virginia.

She was a judge in Houston before she was elected to Houston City Council in 1989, then ran for Congress in 1994. That year, she ousted fellow Democrat Craig Washington, who had been chosen to replace the late Mickey Leland, but established, according to the Almanac of American Politics, “the worst attendance record in Congress.”

Jackson Lee routinely won reelection to Congress with ease. The few times she faced a challenger, she never carried less than two-thirds of the vote.

She was an advocate for gay rights and an early opponent of the Iraq War in 2003. Jackson Lee also could be counted on to chafe at Republican stances on numerous issues over the years. “First of all I’d like our Republican friends to stop a war on the working people of America,” she said in 2012 amid ongoing budget battles.

She attracted criticism of her own. The 2012 edition of the Almanac of American Politics, while saying “she is prolific in proposing bills and offering amendments on the floor,” noted that in the Washingtonian’s annual rating of lawmakers, “she has routinely taken top honors in the poll’s ‘Biggest Windbag’ category.” Part of what established that reputation was a lengthy speech she gave at a memorial service for music superstar Michael Jackson in Los Angeles in 2009.

In 2019, Jackson Lee stepped down from two leadership positions on the House Judiciary Committee and Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, the fundraising of the Congressional Black Caucus, following a lawsuit from a former employee who said her sexual assault complaint was mishandled. “Other Judiciary panel members were uncomfortable with the optics of having a lawmaker mired in a messy legal battle heading a panel with jurisdiction over crime,” POLITICO reported at the time.

Last year, she ran for mayor of Houston only to be defeated by Democratic state Sen. John Whitmire in a runoff in December.

At her election night party in December, Jackson Lee thanked her supporters, congratulated Whitmire and said she was committed to working with him. “It’s sweeter to be saying what a sweet victory it is. It’s equally as sweet to acknowledge we put up a good fight,” Jackson Lee said.

On June 2, Jackson Lee, who was seeking another term in Congress, announced that she was undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer.

“I am confident that my doctors have developed the best possible plan to target my specific disease,” Jackson Lee said. “The road ahead will not be easy, but I stand in faith that God will strengthen me.”

Pelosi concluded her statement Friday night by saying: “All of us in the House Democratic Caucus were blessed to know Congresswoman Jackson Lee and we will miss her dearly. May it be a comfort to her husband, Elwyn, her children, Jason and Erica, her grandchildren, Ellison and Roy, and the entire Lee family that so many in the Congress and across the country mourn their loss and are praying for them during this sad time.”