Trump Floats Name of Top GOP Senator As Next Supreme Court Nom
President Donald Trump has already transformed the Supreme Court once. Now, with speculation continuing over whether another vacancy could emerge during his second term, the president has jokingly floated one of the Senate’s most prominent constitutional conservatives as a possible nominee.
During a July 6 White House ceremony celebrating the launch of Trump Accounts, Trump praised Sen. Ted Cruz’s legal credentials before joking that the Texas Republican might be the only Supreme Court nominee capable of receiving all 100 Senate votes.
The president’s reasoning drew laughter from those gathered in the Oval Office: Republicans would support Cruz because of his conservative legal record, while Democrats would vote for him simply to remove one of their most effective adversaries from the Senate.
“In fact, somebody said, ‘Would you ever appoint him to the United States Supreme Court?’ Because he’s a brilliant lawyer, Ted. I said, ‘Well, he’s the only one I can think of that’s going to get 100 votes,'” Trump said, according to the Washington Examiner.
“All Republicans will vote for him, all Democrats will vote for him, because they want to get him the h*** out of the Senate,” Trump added, drawing laughter from those in attendance.
“If I was having a hard time with getting the votes, I would appoint Ted Cruz. I’d get 100%, guaranteed,” the president said.
Trump also praised Cruz more directly while introducing him at the event.
“He’s done a wonderful job as a senator, highly respected.”
The remarks appeared lighthearted rather than a formal announcement. Nevertheless, Cruz possesses legal credentials that would make his name difficult to dismiss entirely if a vacancy arose.
A graduate of Harvard Law School, Cruz served as a law clerk to Chief Justice William Rehnquist and later became solicitor general of Texas. His official Senate biography states that he argued eight Supreme Court cases while serving Texas, while his complete legal record includes nine appearances before the nation’s highest court.
That experience places Cruz among a relatively small number of sitting senators who have personally argued constitutional cases before the justices they help confirm.
His cases involved federalism, religious liberty, election law, criminal procedure, international treaties, and the proper balance of power between state and federal governments. His record was mixed, but appearing before the Supreme Court nine times remains a distinction few American attorneys ever achieve.
Trump’s Supreme Court Legacy
President Trump appointed three Supreme Court justices during his first term: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.
Gorsuch joined the Court in 2017, Kavanaugh in 2018, and Barrett in 2020. Together, those appointments established a durable conservative majority and became one of the most consequential accomplishments of Trump’s first administration.
The three justices have helped return major constitutional questions to elected legislatures, strengthen protections for religious liberty and the Second Amendment, limit the unchecked authority of administrative agencies, and reinforce the principle that judges must interpret the Constitution rather than rewrite it.
A fourth appointment could further shape American law for decades.
At present, however, there is no Supreme Court vacancy. All nine justices remain active, including Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, and neither has publicly announced plans to retire.
Speculation intensified on June 30 after NPR incorrectly reported that Alito was retiring.
The Supreme Court quickly denied that any retirement announcement had been made. NPR withdrew the report within minutes and acknowledged that it had been published because of a misunderstanding by veteran court correspondent Nina Totenberg.
Totenberg later described the incident as “the worst professional mistake of my more than 50 years in journalism” and apologized to Alito.
The false report nevertheless demonstrated how closely Washington is watching the Court. Any retirement by Thomas or Alito would create an opportunity for Trump to replace an older conservative justice with a younger constitutionalist capable of serving for several decades.
The Washington Examiner has reported that White House officials say Trump has assembled a shortlist of potential nominees, although the administration has not publicly identified the individuals under consideration.
From Bitter Rivals to Conservative Allies
Trump’s joke also underscored the dramatic transformation of his relationship with Cruz.
During the contentious 2016 Republican presidential primary, Cruz openly questioned whether voters could trust Trump to select conservative Supreme Court justices.
His campaign released an advertisement titled “Supreme Trust” using footage from a 1999 interview in which Trump discussed his former position on abortion.
The advertisement included Trump saying he was “pro-choice in every respect” and warned that he could not be trusted with future Supreme Court appointments.
History ultimately delivered a much different result.
Trump selected Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett, fulfilling one of his most important commitments to conservative voters. Cruz became an influential supporter of Trump’s judicial nominees and helped defend the administration’s constitutional agenda in the Senate.
The former rivals are now close political allies, united around border security, religious liberty, free speech, limited government, and restoring a judiciary grounded in the Constitution’s original meaning.
Trump’s Supreme Court appointments also helped overturn the constitutional framework of Roe v. Wade, returning abortion policy to voters and their elected representatives rather than leaving it under the control of federal judges.
That record answered the central question raised by Cruz’s 2016 advertisement more decisively than any campaign promise could have.
Cruz Would Face a Fierce Confirmation Battle
Despite Trump’s joke about receiving unanimous support, a Cruz nomination would almost certainly trigger one of the most contentious confirmation battles in modern Senate history.
Democrats view Cruz as a leading conservative opponent on nearly every major constitutional issue. His positions on abortion, religious freedom, gun rights, federal power, immigration, and election integrity would make him a top target for the progressive left.
His confrontational style has also created friction with some members of his own party, although Republicans would face intense pressure to unite behind a nominee with his experience and conservative record.
The Constitution does not require Supreme Court justices to have previously served as judges. Numerous justices entered the Court after careers in elected office, executive-branch service, private practice, or academia.
Cruz’s years as a Supreme Court clerk, state solicitor general, appellate advocate, and senator would provide him with a deeper understanding of constitutional litigation than many nominees possessed before joining the bench.
Whether Trump would seriously nominate him remains another matter.
Selecting Cruz would remove a dependable America First ally from the Senate and trigger a political process to fill his Texas seat. The president’s remarks therefore sounded more like affectionate political humor than a genuine preview of an imminent nomination.
Yet Trump’s judicial decisions have rarely followed Washington’s conventional expectations. During his first term, he drew heavily from accomplished conservative jurists with records of textualism, originalism, and respect for constitutional limits.
Should another vacancy arise, the president will once again have the opportunity to nominate someone capable of resisting political pressure and applying the law as written.
Cruz would undoubtedly welcome the compliment—even while recognizing that Trump’s promise of 100 Senate votes came with a memorable punchline.