Do Senate Republicans Want Far-Left D.C. Judges To Appoint The Country’s No. 2 Prosecutor?
Ben Weingarten
Will Senate Republicans allow an apparent archnemesis of Donald Trump to take one of the president’s most pivotal appointments out of his hands and pick perhaps the nation’s most powerful prosecutor after the attorney general herself?
That possibility is growing with the Senate Judiciary Committee having refused to timely bring interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ed Martin’s nomination for that post to a vote, amid opposition from Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C. With Republicans holding a 12-10 majority on the committee, Tillis’ nay vote would prevent Martin from securing the majority needed to be voted out of committee and come to the Senate floor for a full vote.
Even if the senator were to quickly flip, absent the Republican-led Senate employing extraordinary measures to fast-track Martin’s confirmation, his 120-day term as interim U.S. attorney will expire on May 20. This would create a vacancy absent preemptive and potentially costly action from Martin and/or the Trump administration (about which more later). Pursuant to 28 U.S. Code § 546(d), in the event of such a vacancy, the district court for the U.S. attorney’s district “may appoint a United States attorney to serve until the vacancy is filled.”
Therefore, the D.C. District Court would be responsible for selecting Martin’s temporary successor. That would put the appointment in the hands of Chief Judge James Boasberg, who infamously sought to force the administration to ground planes deporting Tren de Aragua terrorists, halt its deportation plans under the Alien Enemies Act, and threaten the administration with contempt. These acts are consistent with his broader record of regime-friendly and Trump-hostile jurisprudence.
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https://thefederalist.com/2025/05/08/do-senate-republicans-want-far-left-d-c-judges-to-appoint-the-countrys-no-2-prosecutor/
