Sen. Thom Tillis splits from Trump on Washington's top prosecutor, citing Jan. 6

Danielle Battaglia, McClatchy Washington Bureau on May 6, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Sen. Thom Tillis is opposing the nomination of Ed Martin as Washington’s top prosecutor.

This would be the first time Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, splits from President Donald Trump on one of Trump’s nominees to help the president lead the country in his second term.

“At this point I’ve indicated to the White House I would not support his nomination,” Tillis told a hallway of reporters, first reported by CNN’s Manu Raju and captured on video.

Martin currently serves as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a decision Trump made quickly after being sworn in. He then nominated him for the role permanently. But that requires Senate confirmation.

And Martin has a controversial past that includes organizing "Stop the Steal" rallies and voicing support for defendants of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, when thousands of people breached the building in an attempt to stop the certification of Joe Biden as president over Trump.

And it’s Jan. 6 where Martin and Tillis don’t see eye to eye.

“I have no tolerance for anyone who entered the building on Jan. 6, and that’s probably where most of the friction was,” Tillis said. “I have to say, Mr. Martin did a good job of explaining that 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, and that police officers and others said ‘stay away.’”

Tillis said their main differences are not over whether people should be charged, but for how long.

“That’s an argument I’m willing to have,” Tillis said, “but we have to be very, very clear that what happened on January the 6th was wrong, it was not prompted or created by other people to put those people in trouble. They made a stupid decision and they disgraced the United States by absolutely destroying the Capitol, and I can’t have any patience for that.”

And Tillis reiterated that he does not support the pardons that Trump gave to the Jan. 6 defendants, even though he agrees that some people might have been overprosecuted.

“If Mr. Martin was being put forward for any other district than the district where Jan. 6 happened, where the protest happened, I would probably support him, but not in this district,” Tillis said.

Tillis told reporters he does not believe Martin’s confirmation will even make it to a committee hearing.

It was set to go before the Senate Judiciary Committee, on which Tillis serves. But when Sen. Chuck Grassley, the committee’s chairman, gave notice of the hearing this week, Martin’s nomination was not listed.

And Martin’s ability to serve as an interim U.S. attorney expires before the end of May.

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