There was some good news today for all Americans who cherish the United States Constitution. Interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. Ed Martin's nomination to be permanently confirmed for the job is in trouble. Senator Thom Tillis -- a Republican who will be facing a tough re-election fight next year in North Carolina -- has announced he will not support Martin's nomination in the Judiciary Committee. So Martin's confirmation won't even make it out of the Senate committee responsible for vetting candidates. Since no Democrat is going to vote for him, it leaves Martin with only 11 votes for and 11 against -- which is not enough to make it out of the committee.

This, as I said, is good news, because Martin is one of the more odious of any of Trump's nominees. He was on the Capitol grounds on January 6th, is a full-blown election denier, and has fired many federal prosecutors for the sin of prosecuting the crimes that were committed that day (earlier, he called such prosecutors "terrorists"). He has defended January 6th rioters who have espoused Nazi views. And that's just for starters.

As HuffPost points out, these aren't Martin's only red flags:

[Ed Martin] also failed to disclose to the judiciary panel that he appeared on Russian state media more than 150 times from 2016 to 2024, something he was required to disclose. As recently as Monday, Martin had written to the committee again -- for the fourth time -- listing off dozens of media appearances he previously didn't tell them about.

Martin had no prior experience as a prosecutor at all, and is now facing at least four disciplinary complaints from the D.C. and Missouri bars, just from his short stint in his current (interim) posting. He appeared on a podcast in 2021 hosted by a White nationalist, where he compared Joe Biden to Adolf Hitler.

Martin threatened to prosecute anyone who resisted Elon Musk's government makeover. He opened an investigation into Senator Chuck Schumer for comments he made four years ago on the Senate floor. He has threatened other sitting members of Congress as well. Representative Jamie Raskin, the ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, sent a 9-page letter to the inspector general of the Department of Justice asking that Martin be investigated for "several recent actions... that appear to violate the Constitution, federal statutes, DOJ regulations, and rules of legal ethics.... In seven short weeks, the list of Mr. Martin's constitutionally, legally and ethically indefensible actions have grown exponentially." The letter contains an extensive list of what Martin's been up to.

Martin loves sending threatening letters out to anyone he doesn't like or considers an adversary of Donald Trump. This includes threatening Wikipedia's nonprofit status and darkly warning several medical journals about their editorial policies. Martin was eager to punish the Associated Press for refusing to use "Gulf of America" rather than what the rest of the world still calls it. Martin clearly has no concept of what the First Amendment says, since all of these actions are exactly the sort of abuse of governmental power the Bill of Rights was created to protect against.

Martin directed that bank accounts with a $20 billion Biden climate grant program be illegally frozen, without evidence of any crime. He's threatened to close down the District of Columbia's medical marijuana dispensaries, just for good measure.

With the announcement by Senator Tillis today, Martin's confirmation is in serious jeopardy. The chair of the committee didn't put a vote on Martin's nomination on the schedule, which means the earliest they could vote on him (by Senate rules) would be May 22nd -- which is two days after his interim appointment expires. On the 20th, if the Senate has not confirmed him, the judges on the D.C. U.S. district court could appoint someone else to fill the seat. Or Trump could appoint someone else to serve in the interim. There is only one way for Martin to be confirmed by the deadline, which is if the Senate Majority Leader moves his nomination straight to the floor (without the Judiciary Committee's approval). But this would set up a hard vote for some Republicans, since Tillis isn't the only one worried about his re-election prospects in a purple state. Reportedly, there are "four or five" Republican senators who may vote against Martin's confirmation -- which would be enough (with all the Democrats) to sink his chances. But that's only if a floor vote happens -- John Thune might just decide to let the committee's rejection be the final word on Martin, to avoid such a contentious vote for his fellow Republicans.

Again, this is all good news. Ed Martin is not qualified for the job, is dangerously ignorant of federal law and the U.S. Constitution, and would eagerly weaponize his position (more than he already has) against Donald Trump's perceived enemies, while completely ignoring crimes committed by Trump's allies. Ed Martin does not deserve to be confirmed to be D.C.'s top prosecutor, as he has already shown how dangerous he would be in that job. If Tillis holds firm in the face of Trump's outrage and if Thune refuses to move his confirmation to the floor, then Martin's chances of being confirmed would be dead. Which is good news indeed for anyone who values the United States Constitution.

-- Chris Weigant

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ChrisWeigant