Two sources familiar with the matter told Axios that Cotton prefers his position in the Senate. He is running against Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) for the Senate Republicans’ third-most senior spot. He was floated as a leading contender for the positions of defense secretary and CIA director.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Cotton for comment.

Despite being a bigger hawk on national security, Cotton is a major ally of President-elect Donald Trump. He extended his congratulations to Trump ahead of many, releasing a short statement on X in the early hours of Wednesday.

He was an outspoken defender of Trump over his legal cases, deriding special counsel Jack Smith’s filing against Trump last month in the Jan. 6 case as “a temper tantrum from a deranged fanatic.”

“This is unverified, un-cross-examined hearsay from grand jury testimony, which usually isn’t revealed publicly for that reason,” he told Meet the Press host Kristen Welker. “He went to court. He asked for special permission to file a brief that’s four times as long as a normal brief and to have it disclosed less than 30 days before the election. This is professional misconduct in all likelihood by Jack Smith, and it should be investigated.”

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With reports the legal cases against Trump will be closed after his electoral triumph, Cotton expressed his gratitude.

“The DOJ cases against President Trump were an outrageous abuse of power when the Administration targeted its political opponent,” he said in a Wednesday post. “I’m glad this weaponization is ending.”