Trump nominates Jeanine Pirro for post as key federal prosecutor
President Donald Trump wants Fox News host Jeanine Pirro to be the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C.
Interim U.S. attorney Ed Martin had been nominated, but his named was pulled after a single senator announced his opposition.
“I am pleased to announce that Judge Jeanine Pirro will be appointed interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia,” Trump wrote. “Jeanine is incredibly well qualified for this position, and is considered one of the Top District Attorneys in the History of the State of New York. She is in a class by herself.”
Martin’s progress had been blocked by opposition from Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who objected to Martin’s work with, and in defense of, some of the J6 protesters who trespassed at the Capitol four years ago.
Tillis has explained he wants someone in that role “who believes that every single person who came into this building illegally should’ve suffered some consequences.”
They were pardoned by Trump, of course.
But with Tillis holding a key vote on a Senate committee that must approve the nomination, reports appeared Thursday with Pirro’s name.
.@POTUS on Interim U.S. Attorney for DC Ed Martin: “He is a terrific person. He wasn’t getting the support… Hopefully we can bring him into DOJ in some capacity… I was disappointed… But that’s the way it works sometimes… We have somebody else we’ll be announcing over the… pic.twitter.com/Q9YcPiEBEN
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 8, 2025
#BREAKING: President Trump is considering Judge Jeanine Pirro for US Attorney for DC
This is EPIC! Judge Jeanine is a freaking BULLDOG!
She takes NO sh*t from the Democrats. pic.twitter.com/mOwQSFIA7a
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) May 8, 2025
EXCLUSIVE: Pres. Trump is strongly considering installing Fox News host and ex-prosecutor Jeanine Pirro as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, sources said. https://t.co/1nMIoIyLD6
— ABC News (@ABC) May 8, 2025
A commentary at RedState explained, “‘Be careful what you wish for’ is something I routinely think when mulling over political strategy. Whenever you want a certain politician or appointee removed, you have to be sure that the replacement won’t be worse.”
It continued this is “something Sen. Thom Tillis (R-RINO) should have thought about when obstinately and publicly dissing President Trump’s selection for U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin. While taking questions from reporters Thursday, Trump signaled that he would be naming someone else for that office since Martin’s nomination wouldn’t be able to get out of the Senate Judiciary Committee due to Tillis’ opposition, which seemed to be a Tillis victory.”
Pirro is a former judge and prosecutor.
“Pirro is on the same page as Martin regarding January 6 defendants, so Tillis is likely to oppose this nomination too, but given Pirro’s decades of legal experience and her experience as both a prosecutor and a judge (Martin did not have that experience) and the fact that Pirro did not represent January 6 defendants in court, Tillis will have a hard time outright opposing the nomination,” it explained.
The Washington Examiner said significantly, Tillis now is up for re-election in a possibly competitive primary, and “has yet to secure a Trump endorsement.”
Trump has said Tillis is “disappointing.,”
Martin is serving in an interim capacity now but that can last only another two weeks.
If a replacement isn’t in place, anti-Trump Judge James Boasberg would play a role in picking a temporary for the post.