said on Saturday that he would seek a third term in the U.S. Senate in 2024, though he also did not rule out running for president.
鈥淚'm running for reelection in the Senate, I鈥檓 focused on the battles in the United States Senate,鈥� Cruz told reporters after in Las Vegas. He said he was also focused on the Senate runoff in Georgia on Dec. 6, according to a posted by Fox News.
The Texas Republican reiterated his disappointment that his party failed to take control of the Senate in this month鈥檚 midterm elections, a setback he blamed on a lack of determination within the party.
Cruz was one of 10 Republican senators the reelection of Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, as minority leader on Wednesday. McConnell easily fended off a challenge from Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, by a vote of 37-10.
On Saturday, Cruz said he had made a motion to delay the leadership election until after the Georgia runoff. Backed by former President Donald Trump, Herschel Walker, the retired football star, is challenging Sen. Raphael Warnock. The Democrats have already won 50 seats in the next Senate, giving them control of the chamber with the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris, but both parties are pouring money into the race.
鈥淲e need a real debate about how are we going to lead during the next two years in the minority in the U.S. Senate,鈥� Cruz told the Republican Jewish Coalition. 鈥淎nd the question that I posed to Mitch McConnell and our leadership was very simple: 鈥業s there anything on which we are willing to fight?鈥� I stood in front of the conference, and I said: 鈥楲isten, I鈥檝e traveled all over the country. I鈥檒l tell ya: People are dispirited and demoralized because they say that Republicans in the Senate don鈥檛 fight.鈥� And there鈥檚 a reason for that, which is that Republicans in the Senate don鈥檛 fight.鈥�
Cruz urged Republicans to fight to reinstate military service members discharged for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine. (Most of the service members , which means that they can be reinstated if they get the vaccine.)
Cruz also said the party should block the Biden administration鈥檚 plan to hire 87,000 I.R.S. agents, redirecting the money toward border security. (The figure comes from from the Treasury Department of the total number of employees the I.R.S. proposes to hire over the next 10 years. Most will replace employees who are retiring, and most will focus on areas like customer service and technology鈥� not auditing tax returns.)
Asked if he should no longer be considered a potential presidential candidate, Cruz said that 鈥渢here鈥檒l be plenty of time to discuss [the] 2024 presidential.鈥�