Why Cruz won’t seek court spot

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz made it clear to supporters on a fundraising call on Tuesday night that he has no intention of becoming a Supreme Court justice.

A week after President Donald Trump put the Houston-area Republican on his shortlist of potential nominees, Cruz supporters pressed him on whether he’d want to join the high court. Although Cruz has a new book about the Supreme Court coming out soon, he said it is not the right fit for him.

“No, I don’t want to serve in that position,” said Cruz, 49.

While a principled judge is expected to stay out of politics, “I don’t want to stay out of political fights,” Cruz said. “I don’t want to stay out of policy fights.”

Instead, Cruz said he wants to have an impact on the issues he cares most through politics.

“The right place to do it is in the political arena,” Cruz said, adding he believes he can have a bigger impact in the Senate than on the Supreme Court.

After graduating from Harvard Law School, Cruz was a clerk with the late Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist. Later Cruz would argue numerous cases before the Supreme Court while serving as the Texas Solicitor General.

Cruz was re-elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018 and would next be up for re-election in 2024. He has made clear that he has not closed the door on running for president, telling reporters last year “I hope to run again.”

Cruz ran for the White House in 2016 and became the last major challenge to Trump during the GOP nomination battle.

Cruz said he was “deeply honored” to be included on Trump’s list of potential nominees and told his supporters he wants to be in a position to be “intimately involved” in nominating and confirming justices to the court in the future.