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President Trump emphasized the importance of confirming the nomination of a new U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia this week, even as one key Republican figure told the media that he would oppose Trump’s pick in the Senate.
“Ed Martin is going through the approval process to be U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia. According to many but, in particular, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., his approval is IMPERATIVE in terms of doing all that has to be done to SAVE LIVES and to, MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN,” the president wrote on Truth Social.
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.) told reporters on Thursday that he would oppose Martin’s confirmation, due to his involvement in defending protestors involved in the events of January 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol.
“I’ve indicated to the White House I wouldn’t support his nomination,” he said.
“I met with Mr. Martin, he seems like a good man…most of my concerns are related to January 6,” he said. “…Where we probably have a difference is I think anybody who breached the perimeter should have been in prison for some period of time, whether it’s 30 days or three years, it’s debatable. But I have no tolerance for anybody who entered the building on January the 6th.”
Tillis said Martin has done a “good job of explaining how there were people that probably got caught up in it, but they made the stupid decision to come through a building that had been breached…”
He said his differences with Martin stemmed not from whether defendants should have been charged, but “by how much” they should have been charged.
Regardless of Tillis’s opposition to Martin based on this issue, President Trump has called on Martin’s confirmation strongly because of his commitment to working with Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on fighting the “Chronic Disease Epidemic.”
“Ed Martin will be a big player in doing so and, I hope, that the Republican Senators will make a commitment to his approval, which is now before them. Ed is coming up on the deadline for Voting and, if approved, HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN,” Trump wrote.
According to Fox News, Martin must be confirmed by the Senate by May 20, or else the position of U.S. Attorney in D.C. could possibly be filled by an appointment from a judge.