- Sen. Mike Lee is being considered for a potential Supreme Court vacancy this summer.
- Senate Judiciary Chairman Grassley named Lee and Sen. Ted Cruz as top picks for the role.
- Justice Samuel Alito's possible retirement fuels speculation Lee may be nominated by Republicans.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Sen. Mike Lee is being floated as a possible contender to be appointed to the Supreme Court should a vacancy arise this summer.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, who leads the committee responsible for shuffling judiciary nominees through the Senate, named the Utah senator alongside Texas Sen. Ted Cruz as his top picks if a seat opens up on the high court. Grassley's comments come as Justice Samuel Alito, 76, reportedly considers retirement at the end of this term.
"I hope he doesn't retire," Grassley said of Alito. "But if he does retire, I'm going to suggest that either Lee or Cruz be put on the Supreme Court."
Alito has served on the Supreme Court since 2006, when he was nominated by then-President George W. Bush the year before. But speculation has begun to swirl if he will step down when the current term ends in midsummer.
If that does happen, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., said Republicans would work swiftly to confirm a new justice before the midterm elections — that way preserving its conservative majority.
"That's a contingency I think around here you always have to be prepared for," Thune said on Tuesday. "And if that were to happen, yes, we would be prepared to confirm."
Lee has long been floated as a potential candidate for the Supreme Court, and was even interviewed by President Donald Trump during his first term in 2018. However, the president ultimately tapped Justice Brett Kavanaugh for the nomination instead.
Lee's office didn't expand on Grassley's recommendation, although the Utah senator told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday he would prefer Alito "stay on the court forever. He's the best there is, the best there has been, and the best there will be."
But Cruz had a more pointed answer: No.
"This is a conversation I've had with President Trump many times," Cruz said in a past statement that was reshared by his office on Tuesday. "The reason I've said no is that a principled federal judge stays out of policy fights and stays out of political fights. If I were a federal judge, that's what I would do. But I don't want to stay out of policy fights. I don't want to stay out of political fights. I want to be right in the middle of them."
The speculation around Lee comes after the Utah senator was previously floated as a possible contender for attorney general after Kristi Noem was removed from the position earlier this month. However, the senator quickly shot down those rumors with a statement on social media: "I'm not going anywhere."
