Ted Cruz Claims Trump Spoke To Him ‘seriously’ About Filling A Supreme Court Vacancy

President Donald Trump “seriously” discussed nominating Sen. Ted Cruz to nan U.S. Supreme Court during nan president’s first term, but nan Texas Republican says he declined to activity nan role.

“In nan first Trump term, the president said to maine earnestly astir each 3 vacancies, and 3 times I said no,” Cruz said connected Wednesday at a Wall Street Journal event. “Because I don’t want to beryllium retired of nan arena of nan governmental battle. I deliberation there’s excessively overmuch request there.”

Cruz said elsewhere during nan arena that it is “humbling” to beryllium considered for a domiciled connected nan precocious tribunal but he sees a request for personification for illustration him successful Congress instead.

“There is simply a existent request for elected officials who are opinionated free marketplace conservatives who cognize really to conflict and cognize really to win, and truthful I’d for illustration to beryllium portion of nominating and confirming hundreds of opinionated constitutionalist judges,” Cruz said. “I don’t want maine to beryllium 1 of them.”

The Independent has contacted the White House for comment.

Cruz’s comments came arsenic Trump said this week astir nan anticipation of facing caller Supreme Court vacancies during his 2nd term.

“It could beryllium two, could beryllium three, could beryllium one. I don’t cognize — I’m prepared to do it,” he told Fox Business successful an question and reply that aired connected Wednesday.

Political observers person speculated that nan blimpish Justice Samuel Alito, 76, who was nominated nether nan George W. Bush administration, could beryllium nan adjacent to measurement down.

Alito was taken to nan infirmary successful March and treated for dehydration, nan Supreme Court confirmed.

He besides has a forthcoming book, So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of nan Constitution, nan Court, and Our Country, fueling further chat that he is cementing his nationalist bequest earlier leaving nan Supreme Court.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, president of nan Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters he’s “fully prepared” to guardant a caller information if nan request arises.

“I dream he doesn’t retire,” Grassley said of Alito. “But if he does retire, I’m going to propose that either [Sen. Mike] Lee aliases Cruz beryllium put connected nan Supreme Court.”

During nan first Trump administration, nan president successfully nominated 3 justices to life appointments connected nan precocious court: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

The nominations locked successful a 6-3 blimpish supermajority connected nan tribunal that could persist for years.

The tribunal has often ruled successful favour of nan administration, particularly successful emergency appeals of little decisions that primitively recovered Trump management policies to beryllium illegal.

It has besides delivered aggregate high-profile victories to Trump, including a ruling allowing migration stops based connected appearance and a 2024 determination uncovering that presidents have wide immunity from prosecution for charismatic acts taken successful office. The determination stalled a pending national proceedings against nan Republican, who past managed to wholly evade prosecution by winning reelection.

The Trump-packed tribunal hasn’t ever sided pinch nan president though.

A February ruling striking down nan Republican’s sweeping tariff policies was a awesome rustle to nan administration.

The tribunal is presently considering different important case, complete whether nan management can usage an executive bid to extremity birthright citizenship, which is enshrined successful nan 14th Amendment.

The president has put nationalist unit connected nan tribunal to norm his measurement successful nan birthright citizenship case, attending oral arguments successful personification earlier this month, nan first clip a sitting president has ever watched nan deliberations successful person.