President Donald Trump said Thursday he would pull Ed Martin’s nomination to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia and would soon announce a replacement for the embattled pick.
The shift comes after a monthslong fight in the Senate to confirm Martin, who currently serves in the role on a temporary basis. Earlier this week, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a key vote on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he would oppose Martin’s confirmation to the post.
At the committee, Martin faced hundreds of written questions from senators about his past advocacy for participants in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol and late disclosures of appearances on outlets aligned with the Russian government. Throughout the confirmation process, Democrats called Martin unqualified and requested a hearing on his nomination, which is rare for a U.S. attorney pick.
Trump told reporters Thursday that he would look for another post for Martin, potentially within the Justice Department. Trump said Martin wasn’t rejected by the Senate but it would be difficult to get him confirmed.
“He’s a terrific person, and he wasn’t getting the support from people that I thought, but he’s done a very good job,” Trump said. “We have somebody else that we’ll be announcing over the next two days.”
Tillis met with Martin on Monday and said he could not support the nomination over Martin’s support for participants in the attack.
The panel’s chairman, Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, did not list Martin for a committee vote Thursday. Ahead of Trump’s announcement about Martin, Grassley said he would not comment on the future of the pick.
Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he deferred to the president on the decision regarding Martin’s role in the government.
“Martin was his choice, and if he wants to move him then that’s his choice too,” Hawley said.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., also a member of the Judiciary Committee, said Martin was “as unqualified as any nominee I’ve seen in 15 years.”
“Ed Martin should never have been even in the president’s head as a possible nominee for that extraordinarily important, powerful position,” Blumenthal said.
Another Judiciary Committee member, California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, was more succinct: “What took so long?”
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