BOSTON, MA —His retirement from the U.S. House of Representatives having begun, former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) said this month that he is interested in serving out the remaining time left in the term of U.S. Sen. John Kerry, President Obama’s pick to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State.

On the day after he ended a 32-year career in Congress, Frank, appearing on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” told an interviewer, “Coach, put me in,” referring to Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick’s yet-to-be-announced choice to replace Kerry.

Under Massachusetts law, the governor must select an interim Senator to complete Kerry’s term if he’s confirmed as Obama’s pick to helm the State Department. A Special Election will be held within 160 days of Patrick announcing a replacement.

On “Morning Joe,” Frank, 72, said that his desire to serve in the Senate comes from a wish to take part in important financial and spending decisions that will be made by lawmakers and the White House during the next few months.

That is consistent with what he said last month in an exclusive interview with the Florida Agenda (December 12, 2012, Q&A, “Barney Frank: A Gay Lion, in Winter”). “There’s one more thing I’m going to be pushing the President to do,” he said at the time. “We are now in a position, given the nature of the world, to reduce substantially our military expenditures. There is no need for us to be all over the world. That is a way for us to free up significant funds—$100 million a year—[and] we will still be a lot stronger than we need to be. We could free up $100 million a year, so that we could accomplish a lot of important things for the quality of life, through government, and still reduce deficit.”