President Donald Trump joked at a rally on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026, that he would select Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for the next U.S. Supreme Court vacancy. During the event in Lubbock, Texas, Trump said the choice would ensure a unanimous confirmation because members of both parties would vote for the appointment to remove the senator from Congress.
Trump stated that Democrats would support Cruz "100 percent" because "they want to get rid of him," and that Republicans would do the same because "they can't stand him." He described Cruz as a "brilliant lawyer" with top credentials, noting his graduation from Harvard Law School and his history of arguing nine cases before the Supreme Court.
The remarks continue a pattern of Trump suggesting the Texas senator for the high court, a topic he previously raised during a White House event in July and at other points earlier in the year. Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court during his first term: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. There is currently no vacancy on the nine-member bench.
Cruz has previously declined the suggestion of a judicial appointment. In April 2026, Cruz stated that Trump had spoken to him seriously about all three previous vacancies, but that he declined because he preferred the political battles of elected office. In a September 2026 podcast appearance, Cruz characterized his stance on joining the court as "not just no, but hell no."
An appointment would trigger a vacancy in Texas's senior Senate seat. A shift from the Senate to the Supreme Court would change Cruz's role from a legislator who introduces bills and votes on policy to a justice who issues legal rulings. There is no current deadline for such an action, as no vacancy exists on the Supreme Court. A seat would first need to open through retirement or death, followed by a formal nomination by the president and a confirmation hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee.