Trump, who announced in December 2024 that Ed Martin would serve as Chief of Staff at the Office of Management and Budget, installed Martin as interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia on January 20, 2025, later formally nominating him to take over long-term.
But Martin’s interim tag expires May 19, 2025. And due to D.C.’s unusual status within the federal government, the choice of who would fill the position could fall to U.S. District Judge Jeb Boasberg, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), Charlie Kirk, and other prominent conservatives supporting Martin’s nomination have warned.
Martin’s defeat would deal a blow to critical components of Trump’s agenda.
The powerful U.S. Attorney’s Office in D.C. has two roles, which make it one of the most powerful perches in the American legal system — a seat from which much of the lawfare directed at Trump and his supporters originated during the Biden presidency.
Due to D.C.’s special status, the office serves in a role similar to a local district attorney. After taking over, Martin wasted no time turning the office’s resources towards prosecuting violent crime after a period of lawlessness under President Joe Biden, which saw crime soar.
But the office’s second role is the reason Martin has instilled fear in the Washington establishment.
Martin has shifted the focus of the office — the most powerful U.S. Attorney’s office — to corruption within the federal government itself.
Instead of spending millions targeting everyday Americans like pro-life advocates, practicing Catholics, and school board parents, Martin is pursuing criminals who have enriched themselves off of taxpayers, committed voter fraud, and other serious crimes. And he is doing so not just in Washington but across the globe.
“I have cases that I’m working on, that my office is working on, that are all over the world because we have jurisdiction, because of the way either an entity is based in D.C. or an American is overseas and has some connection to Washington, DC,” Martin told Breitbart News Daily in April.
With the clock ticking on Martin’s interim status, the Deep State is fighting back, and Tillis has emerged as a roadblock to Martin’s nomination on the Senate Judiciary Committee, through which Martin’s nomination must pass.
Tillis, who has expressed concerns with Martin’s comments while serving as an attorney for J6 defendants, is expected to meet with Martin Monday afternoon in his Senate office.
Breitbart News asked a Tillis spokesman if the senator would support Martin’s nomination, and if not, if he believes Judge Boasberg would choose someone more preferable.
The Tillis spokesperson would not commit to the senator supporting Martin and attempted to downplay the scenario of Boasberg choosing the nominee in the event Tillis chooses to block Trump’s nominee.
“Senator Tillis looks forward to meeting with Ed Martin,” the spokesman said. “Our understanding is that if the Senate does not confirm a U.S. Attorney before an acting U.S. Attorney’s term expires, the Attorney General can still pick the next acting replacement if it is done before the term expires under 28 USC 546.”
But Attorney General Pam Bondi would be extremely limited in whom she could appoint to that seat, with no immediately apparent practical choices Trump would relish.
She could use the Federal Vacancy Reform Act to install an acting U.S. Attorney for up to 200 days, although that person must be Senate-confirmed, have been employed by the federal government for 365 days (with a certain percentage of that time above the GS-15 level), or be the first assistant to the office.
This early in Trump’s administration, there are few options via that path — perhaps none available with the expertise or ability to perform the demanding duties of the position full-time. That option, among other problems, would waste critical time for the office to set a new direction and begin investigating and prosecuting cases — and would require the nomination and vetting of another U.S. Attorney nominee, as well as opening another vacancy inside the administration.
At the end of those 200 days, if the Senate has not yet confirmed someone, the district court appoints the next U.S. Attorney.
Alternatively, Bondi could use the statute under which Martin was appointed to install another interim U.S. Attorney for 120 days.
But after those brief 120 days, the district court again appoints the next U.S. Attorney if the Senate has not yet confirmed a replacement.
One name which fits the requirements for the district court is former Special Counsel Jack Smith, Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland’s choice to take down Trump.
Among several bad dream outcomes, that is a nightmare scenario for Republicans given Judge Boasberg’s leadership of the court.
Despite Tillis’s flippancy, Trump would have no good options if Martin’s nomination is killed. Further, any choice Bondi makes is almost sure to draw legal challenges from Democrat-aligned groups.
These scenarios would require Martin to resign from his position or to run out of time, unlikely to happen unless Tillis wishes to block his nomination, sources inform Breitbart News.
If that happens, instead of the U.S. Attorney being determined by a Republican Senate, it could rest in the hands of a judicial system and a court district which has blocked Trump and his agenda at almost every turn.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has not yet announced further committee action on Martin’s nomination but has signaled support, fighting Democrats’ efforts to hold up and grandstand on the nomination.
A committee aide told Breitbart News Monday that the committee has received Martin’s outstanding materials as of that day and is reviewing them.
Other sources tell Breitbart News that Grassley is expected to take Martin’s nomination to the committee unless it is destined to fail — which leaves Tillis as the roadblock.
Tillis, seen as a possible impediment to other Trump nominees previously, ultimately supported all Trump’s nominees that have come before the Senate after an intense public pressure campaign beginning soon after Trump’s election victory.
“Senator Tillis has been focused on reviewing the nominees in his committees of jurisdiction and making sure they get fair hearings, and he is working on making sure Pam Bondi and Kash Patel get through the Senate Judiciary Committee and get confirmed on the floor,” Tillis spokesman Daniel Keylin told Breitbart News in December. “Senator Tillis trusts his Republican colleagues to ensure that all of President Trump’s nominees get a fair confirmation process, and any nominee that gets a favorable vote out of committee will get the Senator’s vote on the floor.”
But for Martin, who despite Democrat objections will not receive a confirmation hearing consistent with precedent for U.S. Attorneys, what constitutes a fair confirmation process may be in the eye of the beholder.
“President Trump has said we’re going to focus on stopping the weaponization of government,” Martin said during his April appearance on Breitbart News Daily, adding, “we’re going to just do enforce the law based on the facts.”
Martin might not get the chance, and Trump’s agenda will suffer.
Bradley Jaye is Deputy Political Editor for Breitbart News. Follow him on X/Twitter and Instagram @BradleyAJaye.
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