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Amid reports of failing health, John Dingell says, ‘You’re not done with me just yet’

Posted at 5:28 PM, Feb 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-06 19:37:10-05

Former Rep. John Dingell used his favorite social media outlet Wednesday to thank supporters for their well wishes after his wife, Rep. Debbie Dingell, announced she had left Washington to be with her husband.

A source close to the family told CNN that the former dean of the House is in hospice and has cancer. A former aide said his family and friends have been told he doesn’t have much time left.

But Dingell appeared to be in good spirits Wednesday afternoon when the prolific Twitter user posted a message to his supporters

“The Lovely Deborah is insisting I rest and stay off here, but after long negotiations we’ve worked out a deal where she’ll keep up with Twitter for me as I dictate the messages. I want to thank you all for your incredibly kind words and prayers,” Dingell wrote.

“You’re not done with me just yet.”

Debbie Dingell tweeted Wednesday morning that she was not in Washington, so she could be with her husband.

“Friends and colleagues know me and know I would be in Washington right now unless something was up,” she said. “I am home with John and we have entered a new phase. He is my love and we have been a team for nearly 40 years.”

The congresswoman asked followers for prayers and privacy in the coming days as she thanked friends who had already reached out.

Debbie Dingell replaced her husband as the representative for Michigan’s 12th Congressional District after he retired in 2015.

For 59 years, John Dingell represented the Michigan district that stretches from Ann Arbor through much of the Detroit suburbs. He retired as the longest serving member of Congress in US history.

For much of that time, he was the top-ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He served in that role from 1981 until 2008.