Sen. Sherrod Brown hugs Hillary Clinton before she speaks at the Cleveland Industrial Innovation Center on June 13 in Cleveland. | AP Photo Sherrod Brown passes on VP question

Sen. Sherrod Brown wouldn't answer whether he's been contacted by Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign about the vice presidential slot, while his New Jersey counterpart Cory Booker wouldn't deny he was being vetted.

"I'm simply not going to speculate on that," the Ohio Democrat said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" in discussing the No. 2 spot on the Democratic ticket. "I love the job I get to do."


When host Martha Raddatz pressed Brown on whether he had been contacted, he brushed aside the question.

"You've heard my answer," he said. "That's what you're going to get. And talk to the Secretary Clinton campaign."

Brown comes from a critical swing state and has a voting record and populist economic stances likely to please the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, many of whose members supported Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders over Clinton in the primary. Some of those Sanders supporters remain strongly opposed to Clinton.

Booker, whose youth could similarly excite parts of the party's base, didn't deny he was being vetted.

"I'm just referring questions about the vice presidency to the woman who is going to have to make this decision. You should talk to the Clinton campaign," Booker said. "I do know, on the Democratic side, there are many fabulous candidates."

Booker had denied being vetted in an interview just two weeks ago with MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell.

Booker and Brown are just two of the many names floated for Clinton's vice presidential slot. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Labor Secretary Tom Perez and Housing Secretary Julian Castro are all also believed to be under consideration.

Brown also defended Clinton's record on trade and said voters could trust her opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership even though Clinton backed it while she was running the State Department under President Barack Obama.

"She was secretary of state, her boss was advocating a trade policy," Brown said. "It was her boss. She was the secretary of state for the president. Of course, she's going to the take those positions."