Wednesday Whinging

*interestingfacts.com

One family has served in Congress continuously since 1933

(this explains a LOT)

You’d be forgiven for thinking this distinction belongs to the members of the Bush or Kennedy clans, but it’s actually claimed by the lesser-known Dingell family, which has served southeast Michigan for 90 years and counting.

The political dynasty began with the election of Democrat John Dingell Sr. from Michigan’s 15th District in 1932. Along with co-authoring legislation that led to the Social Security Act of 1935, the paterfamilias was best known for introducing a national health insurance bill before his death in 1955. John Dingell Jr. picked up the fight after winning a special election to fill his father’s seat, notching a victory with the passage of the Medicare and Medicaid Act in 1965. He went on to craft a legacy that dwarfed that of John Sr. and nearly all of his colleagues, by way of his longtime chairmanship of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. He retired in 2015 after a record 59 years in the House.

The seat then passed into the hands of his wife, Debbie, who set about making her own mark as a sponsor of environmental and health care legislation en route to winning a fifth term in 2022 in the brand-new 6th District. Not yet 70, Debbie could keep the uninterrupted lineage going for several more years, though she’ll likely need help from a yet-to-be-determined successor if the Dingells hope to push past the century mark as representatives of the Great Lakes State.