President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he would tap a new nominee to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia after his pick, Ed Martin, struggled for support.
In comments from the Oval Office, Trump expressed disappointment in Martin’s situation. The nomination was pulled after GOP Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina met with Martin and said Tuesday that he would not back him for the U.S. attorney role.
“He is a terrific person,” said Trump. “He wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought.”
“I just want to say, Ed is unbelievable. Hopefully we can bring him into, whether it’s DOJ or whatever, in some capacity because he’s really outstanding,” the president continued. “To me, it was disappointing. I have to be straight. I was disappointed. A lot of people were disappointed. But that’s the way it works sometimes. That’s the way it works.”
“And he wasn’t rejected, but we felt it would be very – it would be hard. And we have somebody else that we’ll be announcing over the next two days who’s going to be great,” he added.
🚨 BREAKING: It seems Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) succeeded in tanking the nomination of Ed Martin to U.S. Attorney for D.C.
Trump: "We have somebody else that will be great. I just want to say, Ed is unbelievable. Hopefully we can bring him into, whether it's DOJ or whatever, in… pic.twitter.com/NYsK0sjIC3
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 8, 2025
Tillis told reporters on Tuesday that his opposition to Martin was largely over disagreements about the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
“I have no tolerance for anybody that entered the building on Jan. 6, and that’s probably where most of the friction was,” the Republican senator said. He added that he had visited with Trump and suggested SEC Chair Jay Clayton be appointed to the post.
“If you take a look at his tenure as SEC … he’s a rock solid, smart guy,” Tillis said. “So all I’ve said was: ‘Look, if we’ve got to find another nominee, I wouldn’t count him out if he would be willing to serve.’”
It’s unclear if Trump means to take Tillis’ advice. Tillis’ pushback to Martin blocked his nomination in committee. As a member of the Judiciary Committee, Tillis’ opposition meant that Martin’s nomination would stick in committee in an 11-11 vote, assuming all other Republicans supported the nominee and all Democrats opposed.
Martin is currently serving as acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. His appointment is set to expire on May 20.
The acting U.S. attorney sparked some pushback among Republicans over his past comments on the January 6 riot and some of the people involved.
