Gerry Connolly, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a longtime advocate for the federal workforce and government IT modernization, died Wednesday morning. He was 75 years old.

Conolly announced he was stepping down as ranking member last month, and would not seek reelection next year. He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer last November. After successful cancer treatment, he told his constituents in April the cancer had returned.

“The sun is setting on my time in public service, and this will be my last term in Congress,” Connolly wrote in an email to his constituents last month.

Connolly has represented northern Virginia since 2009 and was an outspoken supporter of federal employees.

In recent months, Connolly rebuked the Trump administration’s plans to shrink the federal workforce. As the oversight committee’s ranking member, he launched several investigations into the Department of Government Efficiency’s role at federal agencies and criticized Elon Musk’s position within the administration.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in a statement that Connolly “exemplified the very best of public service.”

“ Gerry was a fighter. His sharp mind, boundless energy, and deep commitment to the people of Northern Virginia made him a force to be reckoned with,” Warner said.

Connolly cosponsored the Federal Adjustment of Income Rates (FAIR) Act in the last four sessions of Congress. The bill would have set higher pay raises for federal employees. He reintroduced the FAIR Act in January.

Connolly was also a cosponsor of the 2014 Federal Information Technology Acquisition Reform Act (FITARA), a landmark law that increased oversight into how federal agencies buy and manage IT products. He convened the most recent FITARA scorecard roundtable with agency chief information officers last September.

Connolly and Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) introduced the Esophageal Cancer Awareness Act on Tuesday. The bill would require the Government Accountability Office to study gaps in the screening and prevention of esophageal cancer.

Before serving in Congress, Connolly worked as a staffer for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in the 1980s, and was elected as a Fairfax County board supervisor in 1995. He was elected to serve as the board’s chairman in 2003.

While serving on the board, Connolly helped secure funding to expand Metro’s Silver Line, which now goes to Dulles International Airport.

Connolly’s family said in a statement Wednesday that he “lived his life to give back to others and make our community better.”

“He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just. He was a skilled statesman on the international stage, an accomplished legislator in Congress, a visionary executive on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, a fierce defender of democracy, an environmental champion, and a mentor to so many,” the family wrote. “But more important than his accomplishments in elected office, Gerry lived by the ethos of ‘bloom where you are planted.’”

Julie Dunne, a former staffer for Republicans on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said she worked closely with Connolly in a bipartisan manner to push federal agencies to modernize their IT networks.

“We were all on the same page — we as a country needed to do better when it came to modernizing federal IT and providing better tools for the federal workforce and services to the American taxpayer. He leaves a legacy of effective engagement and partnership to improve the state of federal IT,” Dunne said. “FITARA and the FedRAMP Authorization Act are among his important accomplishments.”

Mike Hettinger, another former committee staffer who worked closely with Connolly on federal IT policy, said, “I am not sure I met another public servant more dedicated to the things he cared about than Gerry Connolly.”

“Whether it was conducting oversight of FITARA, driving critical foreign policy issues, fighting back against policies he disagreed with or taking care of his constituents, he did it with unmatched passion,” Hettinger wrote. “The Northern Virginia and federal IT communities lost a true giant and he will be greatly missed.”