One of President Donald Trump's key nominees for the Department of Justice is facing an uphill confirmation battle in the Senate, and his supporters are focusing their outrage on one particular Republican.
Axios reported Tuesday that the confirmation of interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin for the District of Columbia (typically the DOJ's top prosecutorial position) is in doubt, after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) publicly expressed reservations about Martin's record. According to Axios co-founder Mike Allen, Tillis — a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee — has grown cold toward Trump's "top attack dog in D.C." due to Martin's embrace of participants in the January 6 insurrection.
"I've indicated to the White House I wouldn't support his nomination," Tillis told reporters on Capitol Hill.
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Tillis has since made it clear that he would not vote for Martin's confirmation in the committee, meaning that the committee will be tied on party lines during the confirmation vote. Should the committee be evenly split, it would doom Martin's chances of being approved by the full Senate.
Trump has been personally making calls to Republicans on the Judiciary Committee pressuring them to back his nominee after news that his confirmation was on the rocks. And Trump's base of supporters have likewise been hounding Tillis in particular after the North Carolina Republican publicly criticized Martin.
"Tillis is handing this critical post to the Democrats," Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk posted to his X account. Pro-Trump website The National Pulse also called Tillis a "traitor" in a recent op-ed.
Martin has been the subject of increased scrutiny in recent weeks, after it became known that he was still listed as the counsel of record for one January 6 defendant whose case he dismissed — something ProPublica noted was a "possible conflict of interest." Martin was also put on the defensive after podcast episodes in which CNN unearthed multiple friendly conversations he had with an alleged Nazi sympathizer. Martin referred to the man as a "great friend," though he said he didn't recall the man's racist and antisemitic remarks.
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Click here to read Axios' full report.