DNC Chair Ken Martin Faces Calls to Resign From Some Democrats After Autopsy Release

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin faced backlash from members of his own party, including calls for his resignation, the day after he released the party’s long-delayed 2024 election autopsy and distanced himself from its findings.

Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) Moulton told Axios that Martin “should resign,” citing what he called a lack of leadership and an inexcusable delay in publishing the report. The Epoch Times was unable to verify his remarks, and his office did not respond to a request for comment. 

Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said on the May 21 episode of “The Thom Hartmann Program” that “having what we have right now [at the DNC] is not doing it.” 

Pocan was responding to a caller who proposed recalling Martin and replacing him with Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). Pocan said he had endorsed former Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler over Martin in last year’s chair race. 

Earlier in the same hour, when asked by a different caller about the autopsy release, Pocan said the DNC had “chosen to not be very useful” and that the party would be better off “if we get a new DNC.”

Former DNC Vice Chair David Hogg said Martin should resign, in a May 21 statement from Leaders We Deserve, the political group Hogg leads. 

Hogg called the autopsy and the months-long debate over its release “a demoralizing joke” and said the DNC should select a new leader committed to repairing the Democratic Party brand.

Several other House Democrats offered grim assessments of Martin’s leadership and the DNC’s direction, without explicitly calling for his resignation.

Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) told Semafor that “there doesn’t seem to be a plan to turn things around” at the DNC and said the clock was ticking on the midterms.

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) told Axios he was “concerned that the DNC appears to be in a state of almost terminal decline.” When asked whether Martin should step down, Torres said it was “not [his] place” to call for that but said the status quo at the committee should alarm Democrats.

Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) told Axios he does not regret backing former Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair Ben Wikler over Martin in last year’s chair race.

Other Democrats have stood behind Martin. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who backed Martin’s bid for chair, defended her fellow Minnesotan. Omar told Axios she “worked really hard” to elect Martin and said she was confident he would “find his footing.”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told Axios that Martin should remain as DNC chair. Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.) told the outlet it was “time for the party to get closer” to Martin. 

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) declined to weigh in on the report’s contents when asked by reporters on Thursday. Schumer told reporters he had been “kind of busy” when asked during an afternoon press conference. Jeffries said he had not yet read it.

Martin released the 192-page autopsy on May 21 along with a statement saying the report “does not meet my standards” and that he could not endorse its findings. He apologized for shelving the document late last year, saying his decision to withhold it “ended up creating an even bigger distraction” than publishing it would have.

The report, authored by Democratic strategist Paul Rivera, was released with several sections missing—including the executive summary, conclusion, and appendices—and with DNC annotations flagging unverified claims throughout. 

Martin pledged in February 2025 to make the autopsy public after his election as chair, then reversed course in December 2025, calling its release a distraction from the party’s midterm work.

The DNC is scheduled to hold its next meeting later this summer. Martin’s term as chair runs through the 2028 election cycle.

The Epoch Times sought comment from the offices of more than a dozen House and Senate Democrats. A spokesman for Torres did not elaborate on the congressman’s remarks in Axios. The other offices did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

The Democratic National Committee did not respond to requests for comment.