Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, has no interested in being nominated to the Supreme Court if a vacancy were to open up in the summer.
The No. 2 Republican in the Senate told MSNBC’s Hugh Hewitt in an interview that aired Saturday that he does not want to be considered for the court if a justice steps down in the coming months, even though there’s been some talk he could be a nominee.
“I think there are other good people who could serve,” Cornyn told the host when asked if he would like to be considered. “I love my job, believe it or not. Maybe I’ll need to have my head examined, but I love my job, and I think the president can come up with other people, in the model of Neil Gorsuch who will be handily confirmed.”
When pressed again whether he would take the call from President Trump about a possible opening, Cornyn said he would bypass the chance.
“I would tell the president that ‘you have better choices, Mr. President,'” he said.
Cornyn, 66, has served in the Senate since 2002, was the attorney general of Texas and spent six years on the Texas Supreme Court.
Marc Short, the White House director of legislative affairs, told Hewitt on Thursday that the White House is expanding their list for a possible Supreme Court nomination from the list of 21 that kept on the campaign.
The Texas Republican believes the chances of a vacancy on the high court sits no higher than 50 percent as rumors continue to swirl that Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, 82, could retire this summer.
“I don’t have any inside knowledge, Hugh,” Cornyn told the host. “I… couldn’t go any better than 50/50, but if Justice Kennedy does decide to hang it up this summer, that of course will occupy most of Washington D.C. up through and including the election, because obviously this is a pivot seat on the Supreme Court.”
