Trump Now Considering Ted Cruz For Attorney General; Will Rudy Giuliani Be Homeland Security Secretary Instead?

When we most recently showed the latest short list of candidates for top Trump cabinet positions, we presented the following names in the running for Attorney General:

• Rudy Giuliani
• Jeff Sessions, senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who takes a hard line on immigration
• Chris Christie, Republican New Jersey governor
• Pam Bondi, Republican Florida Attorney General
• Trey Gowdy, Republican congressman from South Carolina who headed the House committee that investigated the 2012 attacks on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya

We can now add one more: according to Bloomberg, Donald Trump is considering nominating Texas Senator Ted Cruz to serve as U.S. attorney general.

The news is somewhat unexpected as the two have had a strained, at time vicious, relationship to say the least: after a hostile primary race between Cruz and Trump, where the president-elect nicknamed Cruz “Lyin’ Ted.” Cruz while the Texan senator retaliated by calling Trump a “pathological liar”, a “narcissist”, “serial philanderer”, “utterly amoral” and a “sniveling coward”, not to mention the infamous spat at the RNC where Cruz failed to openly endorse Trump (who two months ago said “I don’t want his endorsement”), Cruz appeared to reconcile in September when Cruz said that “After Many Months Of Prayer I Have Decided I Will Vote For Donald Trump.” That may have been sufficient for Trump.

Bloomberg reports that Cruz, 45, was at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday. When approached by reporters on his way out, Cruz said the election was a mandate for change but didn’t say he was under consideration for a job.

Asked for comment, Cruz spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said, “Cruz is focused on serving Texans in the Senate. He was there today to offer help in promoting the conservative policies that were campaigned on and that he’s long fought for.”

In a tweet at 9:55 p.m., Trump said, “Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!”

Very organized process taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 16, 2016

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani was initially discussed as a potential attorney general but now is being discussed as a possible secretary of state pick.