Politics

Attorney General Ted Cruz?

Jeff Sessions is in trouble, and Trump may be looking to Texas for a replacement.

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(Photo by Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

As beleaguered Attorney General Jeff Sessions fights off rumblings that he’s beleaguered — including from this guy — the 24-hour news cycle’s bloodshot Eye of Sauron immediately turned to Rudy Giuliani, the shameless publicity hound who worked every sycophantic angle to get in this cabinet and walked away empty handed — and earned a renunciation from his own law firm. It was the greatest betrayal he suffered since he learned the yogurt wasn’t fat-free.

But Giuliani made the unforgivable error of saying Jeff Sessions made the right move when he recused himself. By this morning, enough cable news outlets had noted Giuliani’s disagreement with Trump’s fine read of legal ethics to put him on the outs. So who’s next on Trump’s wish list?

Apparently Canada’s favorite son, Rafael Edward Cruz. Last night, reports circulated that the administration was looking into tapping the Texas Senator to replace Sessions and, presumably, fire Robert Mueller. Cruz certainly has the credentials to serve as Attorney General because after expressing initial support, he’s been critical of Mueller’s investigation.

Since that report hit the news, Cruz has denied the rumors:

“Jeff Sessions is a friend and a strong conservative. I was proud to vote to confirm Jeff and to vigorously defend his confirmation, and I’m deeply gratified that we have a principled conservative like Jeff Sessions serving as Attorney General,” Cruz said in a statement, as reported by NBC News.

Given how Cruz’s preferred method of dealing with friends is to stab them repeatedly in the back, Sessions should probably begin packing up his office.

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Nominating Cruz would be a smart move for Trump, who desperately needs Cruz out of the Senate. Between throwing wrenches in the health care repeal and serving as a rallying point for disaffected conservatives, Cruz is a dangerous man to leave outside the tent pissing in, as Lyndon Johnson might say. John McCain’s written the blueprint for pivoting from loyal soldier to chief “maverick” against an unpopular administration, and Cruz has assuredly reviewed those plans.

This is exactly why Trump should have appointed Cruz to the Supreme Court in the first place to get him out of the way. The only downside to that move, from Trump’s perspective, would be alienating mainstream conservative Chief Justice Roberts. As it turns out, Trump’s eventual nominee may have already pulled that off.

Unfortunately for Trump, the Supreme Court plum is much juicier than the Attorney General job. Cruz still harbors some delusions that he could win a national election, and if he thought the Supreme Court might hinder that ambition, the Attorney General’s job could smother it forever. Supreme Court justices may seem relatively above the fray — a carefully cultivated mirage — but at least a Supreme Court justice has run for president on a major party ticket in the last 100 years (or 101, but the point remains). Attorney General is a political retirement home where Bobby Kennedy’s doomed primary bid serves as the exception to prove the rule. Unable to engage in standard politicking, chained to an agenda that’s increasingly unpopular, and likely forever tainted — one way or the other — by any decisions he makes on the Russia probe, Cruz would be cutting himself off at the knees. He’s smart enough to see that.

More likely? He’s doing the dance with the White House to keep his name above the fold for every remotely attractive job. He knows Trump wants him out of the Senate, and if he keeps playing coy it keeps stoking the media to consider him “always a frontrunner” as opposed to “that Senator who can’t accomplish anything because he’s universally reviled among his colleagues.”

Hey, Cruz has surprised before. But he’s probably not taking this job.

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Cruz being considered to replace Sessions: report [The Hill]
Cruz denies he is being considered for attorney general [The Hill]

Earlier: Why Donald Trump Must Nominate Ted Cruz To The Supreme Court

HeadshotJoe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.

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