Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he would say "no" if he were offered a nomination to the Supreme Court should a vacancy occur, the Washington Examiner reported Saturday.
"I think there are other good people who could serve," Cornyn told MSNBC's Hugh Hewitt in an interview that aired Saturday.
"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," he added.
"I would tell the president that 'You have better choices, Mr. President,'" Cornyn said.
Cornyn has served as a senator since 2002 and as Whip —the No. 2 ranking Republican in the Senate — since 2013. Prior to that, he was attorney general of Texas and also sat on the Texas Supreme Court.
White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short said the administration had expanded its list of potential nominees for the Supreme Court in the case of a vacancy.
Rumors swirl in Washington that Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, 82, may retire this summer. Cornyn said he put the odds at "50/50" a vacancy would open up for the high court.
"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," Cornyn said.
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