Shortly after taking office, President Donald Trump selected Ed Martin to serve as acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia.

While Trump has nominated Martin to hold the position permanently, his plans were recently blindsided by a rogue GOP senator. 

Failure to confirm Martin could lead liberal judge to name replacement

According to Breitbart, North Carolina Thom Tillis publicly expressed reservations over Martin's nomination late last week.

Breitbart pointed out that although Attorney General Pam Bondi could appoint another acting U.S. attorney, she "would be extremely limited in" her options.

This is because the Federal Vacancy Reform Act would require her to name someone who has already received Senate confirmation and been employed by the federal government for at least 365 days or be the first assistant to the office.

Should she fail to make an appointment within the allotted time frame, then that job would fall to Judge James Boasberg, who has a contentious relationship with the White House.

An example of that came last month when he threatened to hold members of the Trump administration in contempt for refusing to return illegal migrants from El Salvador.

Conservative activist Charlie Kirk sounds alarm

Breitbart noted that conservative activist Charlie Kirk warned his social media followers this past weekend of the risks associated with the failure of Martin's nomination.

🚨 IMPORTANT 🚨

If Ed Martin, acting US Attorney of DC is not confirmed by the Senate Republicans before May 20th, radical Judge Boasberg gets to choose his replacement

If the Senate GOP doesn’t confirm Ed in the next two weeks, we will have a Trump hating US Attorney in the…

— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) May 4, 2025

"If Ed Martin, acting US Attorney of DC is not confirmed by the Senate Republicans before May 20th, radical Judge Boasberg gets to choose his replacement," Kirk wrote in a post on Sunday.

"If the Senate GOP doesn’t confirm Ed in the next two weeks, we will have a Trump hating US Attorney in the nation’s capital. The Senate MUST CONFIRM ED Martin, NOW!" he added.

Tillis points to January 6 riot in opposing Martin

Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee expressed a similar message in a post of his own, writing, "Do you want Judge Boasberg choosing Ed Martin’s replacement? If not, encourage your senators to confirm Ed Martin."

Nevertheless, The Hill reported on Tuesday that Tillis had told the White House he would not be supporting Martin's confirmation.

"If Mr. Martin were being put forth as a U.S. attorney for any district except the district where January 6 happened, the protest happened, I’d probably support him but not in this district," Tillis was quoted as saying.