President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will withdraw his nomination of Ed Martin to serve as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, following growing Republican opposition over Martin’s support for January 6 defendants.
“He is a terrific person. He wasn’t getting the support,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Hopefully we can bring him into DOJ in some capacity. I was disappointed. But that’s the way it works sometimes.”
.@POTUS on Interim U.S. Attorney for DC Ed Martin: "He is a terrific person. He wasn't getting the support... Hopefully we can bring him into DOJ in some capacity... I was disappointed... But that's the way it works sometimes... We have somebody else we'll be announcing over the… pic.twitter.com/Q9YcPiEBEN
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 8, 2025
Martin’s nomination faced a likely failure in the Senate after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said he would vote against it, citing Martin’s outspoken defense of Capitol riot defendants.
Trump stressed that Martin had not been officially rejected but acknowledged the uphill confirmation battle. “We have somebody else we’ll be announcing over the next two days that will be great,” he added.
