Bush Considers Picking Roberts as Chief, Aides Say
The death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist just days before Senate confirmation hearings for John G. Roberts Jr. set off a scramble in Washington yesterday and presented President Bush a historic opportunity to put his stamp on the Supreme Court for decades to come.
As he contemplates filling his second court vacancy, Bush is considering a plan to install Roberts as chief justice rather than as an associate justice replacing Sandra Day O'Connor, senior administration officials said. With the Roberts vetting process well advanced and his confirmation on track, such a shift could guarantee that a chief justice would be in place when the court opens its term Oct. 3.
The switch would be unprecedented in modern times. If the president does not opt for that course, officials said, he will return to the list of potential candidates he scrutinized in picking Roberts in July. Among those at the top of such a list would be his close friend Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales; his former deputy attorney general, Larry D. Thompson; and a handful of federal appeals judges, including Edith Hollan Jones, Edith Brown Clement, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, J. Michael Luttig, Emilio M. Garza and Priscilla R. Owen.
The opening for chief justice confronted the White House with another challenge at a volatile moment. Given his deteriorating health, Rehnquist's death came as no surprise, but the timing made the politics complex, coming in the midst of a crisis touched off by Hurricane Katrina and just before the Roberts hearings, which are set to begin tomorrow.
While senators discussed postponing the hearings, Bush advisers gathered at the White House to consider strategy amid recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast. Some conservative advocacy groups laid down markers, urging Bush not to appoint Gonzales, whom they consider too moderate.
As they sift through names, White House advisers are weighing whether it would be better to announce a nominee quickly or to wait until after the situation in the Gulf Coast is better in hand and the Roberts confirmation process is finished. With his poll ratings at an all-time low, gasoline prices at a longtime high and U.S. troops suffering rising casualties in Iraq, Bush confronts a perilous point in his presidency.
Bush mentioned none of this in his public comments yesterday, instead paying tribute to Rehnquist in a brief televised appearance in the Roosevelt Room and promising to move expeditiously in naming a chief justice.
"There are now two vacancies on the Supreme Court, and it will serve the best interests of the nation to fill those vacancies promptly," Bush said. "I will choose in a timely manner a highly qualified nominee to succeed Chief Justice Rehnquist."
Bush praised Rehnquist for a "powerful intellect," a "deep commitment to the rule of law" and a "profound devotion to duty." In a personal note, the president recalled Rehnquist's special effort to appear at the inauguration in January despite his thyroid cancer to swear Bush in for a second term. "I was honored, and I was deeply touched when he came to the Capitol for the swearing-in last January," Bush said. "He was a man of character and dedication."
The president later telephoned Rehnquist's children to express condolences and ordered flags flown at half-staff. Rehnquist will lie in state in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court building starting tomorrow and will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday. If his successor has not been confirmed by the time the court reconvenes next month, his chair will remain empty and draped in black.
For Bush, the situation represents a rare chance to cement a more conservative court and his own legacy at the same time. No sitting justice has died while in office in more than a half-century, and no president has installed two newcomers to the court at the same time since 1971, when Richard M. Nixon appointed Rehnquist to fill one of a pair of vacancies. When President Ronald Reagan tapped Rehnquist to move up from associate justice to chief justice in 1986, it created an opening that was filled by Antonin Scalia. If Bush elevates Scalia or Clarence Thomas to chief justice, it would mean three confirmation battles at once.
"This is the most historic moment in Supreme Court history in our lifetime, no question about it," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, and an adviser to the White House on court issues. "These are justices who are going to serve for decades."
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The death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist just days before Senate confirmation hearings for John G. Roberts Jr. set off a scramble in Washington yesterday and presented President Bush a historic opportunity to put his stamp on the Supreme Court for decades to come.
As he contemplates filling his second court vacancy, Bush is considering a plan to install Roberts as chief justice rather than as an associate justice replacing Sandra Day O'Connor, senior administration officials said. With the Roberts vetting process well advanced and his confirmation on track, such a shift could guarantee that a chief justice would be in place when the court opens its term Oct. 3.
The switch would be unprecedented in modern times. If the president does not opt for that course, officials said, he will return to the list of potential candidates he scrutinized in picking Roberts in July. Among those at the top of such a list would be his close friend Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales; his former deputy attorney general, Larry D. Thompson; and a handful of federal appeals judges, including Edith Hollan Jones, Edith Brown Clement, J. Harvie Wilkinson III, J. Michael Luttig, Emilio M. Garza and Priscilla R. Owen.
The opening for chief justice confronted the White House with another challenge at a volatile moment. Given his deteriorating health, Rehnquist's death came as no surprise, but the timing made the politics complex, coming in the midst of a crisis touched off by Hurricane Katrina and just before the Roberts hearings, which are set to begin tomorrow.
While senators discussed postponing the hearings, Bush advisers gathered at the White House to consider strategy amid recovery efforts in the Gulf Coast. Some conservative advocacy groups laid down markers, urging Bush not to appoint Gonzales, whom they consider too moderate.
As they sift through names, White House advisers are weighing whether it would be better to announce a nominee quickly or to wait until after the situation in the Gulf Coast is better in hand and the Roberts confirmation process is finished. With his poll ratings at an all-time low, gasoline prices at a longtime high and U.S. troops suffering rising casualties in Iraq, Bush confronts a perilous point in his presidency.
Bush mentioned none of this in his public comments yesterday, instead paying tribute to Rehnquist in a brief televised appearance in the Roosevelt Room and promising to move expeditiously in naming a chief justice.
"There are now two vacancies on the Supreme Court, and it will serve the best interests of the nation to fill those vacancies promptly," Bush said. "I will choose in a timely manner a highly qualified nominee to succeed Chief Justice Rehnquist."
Bush praised Rehnquist for a "powerful intellect," a "deep commitment to the rule of law" and a "profound devotion to duty." In a personal note, the president recalled Rehnquist's special effort to appear at the inauguration in January despite his thyroid cancer to swear Bush in for a second term. "I was honored, and I was deeply touched when he came to the Capitol for the swearing-in last January," Bush said. "He was a man of character and dedication."
The president later telephoned Rehnquist's children to express condolences and ordered flags flown at half-staff. Rehnquist will lie in state in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court building starting tomorrow and will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday. If his successor has not been confirmed by the time the court reconvenes next month, his chair will remain empty and draped in black.
For Bush, the situation represents a rare chance to cement a more conservative court and his own legacy at the same time. No sitting justice has died while in office in more than a half-century, and no president has installed two newcomers to the court at the same time since 1971, when Richard M. Nixon appointed Rehnquist to fill one of a pair of vacancies. When President Ronald Reagan tapped Rehnquist to move up from associate justice to chief justice in 1986, it created an opening that was filled by Antonin Scalia. If Bush elevates Scalia or Clarence Thomas to chief justice, it would mean three confirmation battles at once.
"This is the most historic moment in Supreme Court history in our lifetime, no question about it," said Jay Sekulow, chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice, founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, and an adviser to the White House on court issues. "These are justices who are going to serve for decades."
Entire Story
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