The nomination of President Trump’s choice to serve as top federal prosecutor for Washington, D.C., is now on life support after Senator Tillis voiced his opposition to the nominee on Tuesday. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Senator Grassley, declined to say if he will even hold a hearing. 

Ed Martin was tapped by Mr. Trump to be Washington’s United States attorney after decades as a conservative activist and lawyer. His involvement in the “Stop the Steal” movement, his advocacy for those who committed violence on January 6, 2021, and his penchant for appearing on unsavory media platforms has raised concerns among Republican senators. 

Mr. Tillis was the first GOP lawmaker to officially come out against Mr. Martin’s nomination on Tuesday. The two met on Monday night to discuss a range of issues. The senator says he walked away unimpressed. 

“Most of my concerns [were] related to January 6th,” Mr. Tillis told reporters Tuesday. “Where we probably have a difference [of opinion] is I think anybody that breached the perimeter should’ve been in prison for some period of time.”

“If Mr. Martin were being put forth as a U.S. attorney for any district except the district where January 6th happened — the protest happened — I’d probably support him,” Mr. Tillis said. “But not in this district.”

Mr. Martin has so far won praise from conservatives for his aggressive style in going after Mr. Trump’s perceived enemies. After being appointed as acting U.S. attorney on January 20, 2025, Mr. Martin dismissed dozens of prosecutors involved in the cases against January 6 defendants, and opened an investigation into Senator Schumer’s past comments about the Supreme Court. The acting prosecutor further threatened Georgetown University, the Wikimedia Foundation, and the New England Journal of Medicine with potential investigations in various letters. 

Mr. Tillis’s opposition to Mr. Martin — along with the opposition of all Judiciary Committee Democrats — means it is impossible for the nominee to be reported favorably out of committee, if the process even gets that far. 

If there is a hearing and a committee vote that ends tied, the full Senate would have to move to executive session and hold a vote on a motion to move Mr. Martin’s nomination to the floor. Senator Thune told reporters on Tuesday that he would let the committee do its work before even considering such a measure. 

“We will cross that bridge if and when we come to that. It’s ultimately the decision that the Judiciary Committee makes first,” Mr. Thune said Tuesday. 

The committee’s chairman, Mr. Grassley, was noncommittal when asked by reporters about having a hearing for Mr. Martin. “I wouldn’t say it’s over until it’s over,” Mr. Grassley said with a smile. “I want the president to be successful. … I sign people up when we know we’ve got the votes.”

When pressed about the prospect of holding a hearing, Mr. Grassley did not respond and quickly got on an elevator with his staff. 

What complicates Mr. Martin’s nomination is that there is a set time limit on how long he is allowed to remain in his position in an “acting” capacity. He may only stay on as the capital’s top prosecutor through May 20 — just two weeks away. 

If no presidential nominee for the position is confirmed by the Senate before that date, the chief judge of the District of Columbia’s federal district court — Judge James Boasberg — will name an acting replacement until the Senate confirms Mr. Trump’s new nominee. 

Judge Boasberg has been overseeing the legal challenges to Mr. Trump’s invocation of wartime authority in order to institute his mass deportation program. He is still hearing arguments in those cases, and has threatened to hold administration officials in contempt if more information is not disclosed about his previous order to turn deportation around flights being ignored by the White House. 

When reached by for comment on Mr. Martin’s nomination, the White House directed The New York Sun to a post on X from the deputy communications director, Alex Pfeiffer. 

“Ed Martin is a fantastic U.S. Attorney for D.C. and will continue to implement the President’s law-and-order agenda in Washington. He is the right man for the job and we look forward to his confirmation,” Mr. Pfieffer writes.