Post-surgical complications cost Rep. John Murtha’s life

Rep. Murtha died at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., surrounded by his family, his office announced. He had been hospitalized for a little more than a week with complications from gallbladder surgery.

The Democratic congressman recently underwent scheduled laparoscopic surgery at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, to remove his gallbladder. The procedure was “routine minimally invasive surgery,” but doctors “hit his intestines,” a source close to the late congressman revealed to the press.

Murtha was initially hospitalized in December and had to postpone a hearing with Defense Secretary Robert Gates on the administration’s strategy in Afghanistan. The congressman returned to work after a few days in the hospital and helped oversee final passage of the 2010 defense appropriations bill.

Although his turn against the war in 2005 made him a national figure, Rep. Murtha was known inside Washington for decades as the consummate behind-the-scenes dealmaker, an old-line power broker who unrepentantly delivered billions of federal dollars to his home state. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime ally of Murtha’s, said in a statement that he always put “the troops and their families first.”

Murtha was “incredibly effective in his service in the House,” said Wisconsin Rep. David Obey, chairman of the Appropriations Committee. “Every person who serves in the military has lost an advocate and a good friend.”

A right-hand man of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, he was considered one of the most influential lawmakers on Capitol Hill and credited for her ascension.

Murtha “will be missed,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. “The House of Representatives has lost one of its own.”

Murtha had represented Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District since 1974, making him the chamber’s eighth most senior member. According to his biography on the House of Representatives Web site, Murtha was the first Vietnam War combat veteran elected to Congress.

“Our military’s done everything that has been asked of them,” Rep. Murtha said then. “The U.S. cannot accomplish anything further in Iraq militarily. It’s time to bring the troops home.”