WASHINGTON — Most of President Donald Trump’s top nominees have sailed through the Senate with little resistance. His pick to be the top federal prosecutor for the nation’s capital could be an exception.

Ed Martin Jr., a conservative activist with modest legal experience who has defended rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, is testing Republican party loyalties as a deadline approaches for the Senate to decide whether to extend or end his brief but tumultuous tenure as leader of the country’s largest U.S. Attorney’s office.

Martin’s nomination faces vocal opposition from hundreds of veterans of the office that he is leading on an interim basis. Democrats are trying to tie up his confirmation vote. And Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee have said they need more time to review his record.

There were signs of trouble at a Judiciary meeting on Thursday as Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the panel, said it was his understanding that committee chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was going to announce “that we are not going to move forward on the Martin nomination.”

Grassley demurred, saying he would wait to talk about Martin until the committee scheduled a vote. But he said he was still going through hundreds of questions that the committee had posed to Martin, adding that some of his staff “had more questions” and wanted to meet with him in person.

It was hardly a ringing endorsement of Martin, who hasn’t spent much time in courtrooms but has been a devoted loyalist to Trump.

Within days of taking office in January, Martin fired or demoted veteran attorneys who prosecuted Trump supporters for storming the U.S. Capitol. Before his appointment, he represented and helped raise money for Capitol riot defendants. He frequently appeared on Russian state media to parrot Trump talking points. He even published coloring books glorifying Trump’s tweets.

Martin hasn’t responded to several Associated Press interview requests since he took office in January, including this week.

Martin recently told NBC Washington that he is confident that Trump made the “right decision” in nominating him. He has touted his office’s work tackling violent crime. And he has told lawmakers that his opinions won’t influence his office decisions.

“We have to keep the streets safe AND fight for America on the world stage. Amazing work and I am blessed to serve Donald Trump in this way,” Martin wrote in a Substack post.

Any vote on Martin’s nomination is bound to be split along party lines. But first, Democrats are calling for a rare hearing where they can grill him.

The Judiciary panel traditionally does not hold confirmation hearings for U.S. attorneys, relying on questionnaires instead.

Even if the committee were to approve Martin’s nomination, it would face obstacles on the Senate floor. California Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff placed a hold on the nomination, meaning Republicans would have to spend several days of floor time to confirm him. U.S. attorneys are generally approved in groups by a quick voice vote.

Schiff last month said Martin “has consistently undermined the independence and abused the power of the U.S. Attorney’s office in D.C.” since taking office.

Martin has touted endorsements from leading conservative figures, including Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk and Donald Trump Jr. Republican lawmakers, including Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, also have expressed support.

Paul in a post on X said he’s confident Martin will “work to clean up DC and fight against the left’s lawless judicial tyranny. Proud to support him as U.S. Attorney!”

His supporters have said his record fighting conservative causes makes him the right person to lead the office that critics have claimed unfairly treated Jan. 6 defendants and should have been more focused on bringing down street crime. Weeks into the job, he announced a “Make D.C. Safe Again” initiative to bring more gun cases in federal court, where penalties are stiffer.

But a least one Republican member of the committee appears to have reservations. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, who has expressed some concerns about Martin’s Jan. 6 comments, said Thursday that he will meet with Martin next week.

Trump appointed Martin the same week in January that he issued mass pardons to supporters who attacked the U.S. Capitol four years ago. It was a morale-destroying choice for prosecutors who spent four years building cases against over 1,500 riot defendants, the largest investigation in Justice Department history.

Martin was a leading figure in Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement. He spoke at a rally in Washington on the eve of the riot. He also represented three Jan. 6 defendants, which he ranked among the top 10 cases of his legal career on his committee questionnaire.

Former federal prosecutor Michael Romano, who was detailed to help supervise Jan. 6 prosecutions, returned to his home office in the Justice Department before Martin arrived. And yet Martin tried to demote Romano to an entry-level position along with other senior prosecutors who worked on Capitol riot cases.

“He appeared not to realize that I didn’t work for him,” said Romano, who recently joined a private law firm. “It was a moment that made my eyes roll.”

Martin served on the board of the nonprofit Patriot Freedom Project, which reports raising over $2.5 million to support Jan. 6 defendants. Last year, he presented an award to a Capitol riot defendant, Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, who openly espoused white supremacist and antisemitic ideology and photographed himself sporting a Hitler mustache. He referred to Hale-Cusanelli as a friend who is “an extraordinary guy.”

Martin told committee members that he condemns Hale-Cusanelli’s hateful comments as “abhorrent and deplorable.” He claimed he didn’t learn about them until after he presented him with the award during an event at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

But Martin alluded to the controversy when he interviewed Hale-Cusanelli before the awards ceremony. Martin accused prosecutors of leaking photos of Hale-Cusanelli sporting the Hitler mustache to taint the jury pool.

“Not your best moment, but not illegal,” Martin said.

Critics have accused Martin of abusing his office — and his account on Musk’s X platform — to intimidate potential targets of investigations.

At least three medical journals received letters from Martin asking about “competing viewpoints.” Another letter that he sent on office stationery accused Wikipedia of “allowing foreign actors to manipulate information and spread propaganda to the American public.”

Martin had a habit of getting ensnared in political controversies — and litigation — during his earlier forays into public service. Nearly two decades ago, he was chief of staff for then-Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt when he was sued by a former staff attorney who claimed he was fired in retaliation for complaining that the administration was destroying e-mails illegally.

Martin was chairman of the Missouri Republican Party before becoming president of conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum in April 2013. He co-authored a book about Trump with Schlafly, who died in 2016.

Martin has referred to himself as one of the president’s lawyers. His critics have call him unqualified and unfit for the job.

“Ed Martin has less experience than a misdemeanor assistant does after a week in basic training. That’s not an exaggeration,” said Kevin Flynn, who worked as a prosecutor under roughly a dozen U.S. attorneys in Washington before leaving the office in 2023. “And he’s not exactly learning on the job, either.”

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump is the president, but billionaire Elon Musk is the focus for thousands of Democratic activists launching a protest campaign this week to fight the Trump administration’s push to gut federal health, education and human services agencies.

Hundreds of protests are scheduled outside congressional offices and Tesla dealerships, with organizers hoping to send a pointed message to members of Congress who are on recess this week.

The backlash still hasn’t approached the intensity of protests during and after Trump’s first inauguration eight years ago. But a loose coalition of Democrats and progressives is coalescing around Musk’s rise as Trump’s top lieutenant and his purge of the federal bureaucracy.

“He’s a major weak link in the MAGA coalition,” Ezra Levin, co-founder of the progressive group Indivisible, said of Musk. “I can’t think of something that polls worse than the richest man in the world is coming after your Social Security check or your Meals on Wheels or your Head Start.”

Indivisible, which claims more than 1,300 local chapters nationwide, is encouraging members to protest at the offices of their members of Congress, regardless of political party. The group also offered a step-by-step guide for protesting at dealerships for Tesla, Musk’s electric vehicle company.

The memo encourages protesters to stay on sidewalks and public spaces and to avoid any actions that might directly interfere with business operations, such as blocking entrances or trespassing on private property. It also calls for Tesla protesters to stay on message: “This is about Musk’s political takeover, not Tesla, SpaceX, or X as companies.”

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is launching what he’s calling “a national tour to fight oligarchy” with stops in working-class districts of Iowa and Nebraska this week.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin will hit the road for the first time as party leader as well. The newly elected DNC chair will travel to Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri in the coming days to meet with local Democratic officials and labor leaders, spokesperson Hannah Muldavin said.

Like the protesters, Martin is expected to seize on Musk’s role. During a meeting with labor leaders in Pittsburgh, for example, he plans to highlight Musk’s recent focus on the Department of Labor, which could put “the integrity of data like the unemployment rate and inflation rate at risk, which is important for a stable U.S. economy and, by extension, working people,” Muldavin said.

Aware of the intense displeasure from their party’s base, many House Democrats plan to be proactive.

The House Democratic Policy and Communications Committee issued a memo ahead of the recess instructing Democrats to embrace “nine days of visibility” and said it was essential for members to host one town hall, in-person or via telephone, and at least one community event that highlights the “devastating impacts” of Trump and Musk’s actions.

The wave of protests comes at a critical moment as fractured Democrats struggle to stop the Republican president’s purge of the federal bureaucracy, which features thousands of layoffs inside departments focused on public health, education, veterans affairs and human services, among others.

Firings in recent days at the Department of Veterans Affairs include researchers working on cancer treatment, opioid addiction, prosthetics and burn pit exposure, according to U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington state. The cuts also include more than 5,000 employees at the Department of Health and Human Services and roughly one-tenth of the workforce at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In some cases, Musk’s team is trying — with Trump’s blessing but without congressional approval — to shutter entire agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Education and the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Trump has defended the cuts as necessary to eliminate waste and fraud. And he has praised Musk’s work with his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, saying it has found “shocking” evidence of wasteful spending. He signed an executive order expanding Musk’s influence.

Musk, meanwhile, has defended the swift and extensive cuts he’s pushing across the federal government while acknowledging there have been mistakes.

Democrats in Congress condemn the moves as dangerous, but without control of either chamber of Congress, there is little they can do to stop the Trump administration aside from turning to the courts. Still, three of the nation’s largest progressive groups — Indivisible, MoveOn and the Working Families Party — are coordinating this week’s protests to send a clear message to elected officials in both major political parties that they must do more.

Still, Democratic members of Congress may face their own voters’ fury.

MoveOn, which boasts a membership of nearly 10 million, is hosting dozens of rallies outside town halls and congressional offices for those members who do not host public events. The group will focus on “persuadable House Republicans whose votes will be crucial to opposing the Trump-Musk agenda,” according to a preview of its recess week plan. But there will also be rallies targeting House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, both of New York, among other Democrats.

“We are seeing a true resurgence in energy opposing what Trump, Musk and Republicans are doing to our country,” MoveOn executive director Rahna Epting said, adding that “people are mad as hell.”

The Working Families Party is focusing protests in the districts of vulnerable Republicans in states such as California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The actions will feature people directly impacted by the Trump administration’s cuts, including special education teachers, nurses and Head Start workers, according to Working Families spokesman Ravi Mangla.

“A lot of Republicans,” Mangla said, “have not have had their feet held to the fire.”