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 News from Around the Americas | September 2005 
Bush Picks Roberts to Succeed Rehnquist
 Steve Holland - Reuters
| | Supreme Court nominee John Roberts, left, speaks as U.S. President Bush looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. President Bush on Monday nominated John Roberts to succeed William H. Rehnquist as chief justice, and called on the Senate to confirm him before the Supreme Court opens its fall term on Oct. 3. (Photo: Charles Dharapak) |
Washington - President George W. Bush nominated conservative appeals court judge John Roberts on Monday to replace the late William Rehnquist as chief justice of the Supreme Court, the top court in the United States.
The choice was in a certain sense a sentimental one, given that Roberts was once a law clerk for Rehnquist, and a shrewd political move. Rehnquist's death on Saturday of thyroid cancer left a rare two openings on the high court and gave Bush the chance to move it to the right for decades to come.
Bush's choice must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate and will be subject to intense political scrutiny given the enormous power the court wields at the top of the judicial branch of the U.S. government.
As a newcomer already nominated to serve as one of the high court's eight associate justices, Roberts' background and credentials have been scrutinized and no major obstacles found to disqualify him from serving on the Supreme Court.
"Judge Roberts has earned the nation's confidence, and I'm pleased to announce that I will nominate him to serve as the 17th chief justice of the Supreme Court," Bush said in the Oval Office with Roberts at his side.
Bush, grappling with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, urged the Senate to move quickly to confirm Roberts, 50, in time for the October 3 start of the new term of the Supreme Court. Rehnquist died of cancer on Saturday.
"The Senate is well along in the process of considering Judge Roberts' qualifications. They know his record, and his fidelity to the law. I'm confident the Senate can complete hearings and confirm him as chief justice within a month," Bush said.
While some Senate Democrats call Roberts out of the mainstream, his confirmation has seemed assured.
But Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada said, "Now that the president has said he will nominate Judge Roberts as chief justice, the stakes are higher and the Senate's advice and consent responsibility is even more important."
"If confirmed to this lifetime job, John Roberts would become the leader of the third branch of the federal government and the most prominent judge in the nation. The Senate must be vigilant in considering this nomination," Reid said.
Demands For Documents
After weeks of consideration, Bush nominated Roberts in July to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who is retiring. Bush said he would move to fill the second opening on the high court in a timely manner and aides noted that O'Connor has pledged to stay on the court until a successor is confirmed.
While the administration has provided thousands of documents on Roberts' background, Senate Democrats have been demanding access to his records as deputy solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s.
The White House has rejected the request, saying they are privileged materials reflecting "internal discussions" by government lawyers.
"This nomination certainly raises the stakes in making sure that the American people and the Senate know Judge Roberts views fully before he assumes perhaps the second most powerful position in the United States," said New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer.
"Judge Roberts has a clear obligation to make his views known fully and completely at the hearings and we look forward to them," Schumer said.
There had been no decision on whether Roberts' confirmation hearing, set to begin on Tuesday, would be delayed, but there was a possibility it would be pushed back a few days and perhaps up to a week, a congressional official said.
There had already been talk of a delay in the hearing out of respect for the death of Rehnquist and the struggle to contain the humanitarian crisis spawned by Hurricane Katrina.
The official said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, would discuss the matter with Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Bush met with Roberts in the White House residence for 30 to 40 minutes on Sunday and offered him the position on Monday morning.
"This had been in the back of the president's mind for some time. The president knew he was a natural-born leader," McClellan said.
A senior administration official said Bush probably would have made the same decision if Rehnquist had retired in two or three months.
Bush noted that Roberts was a law clerk to Rehnquist 25 years ago and considered the elder justice a role model, political mentor and friend.
It is fitting, Bush said, "that a great chief justice be followed in office by a person who shared his deep reverence of the constitution. his profound respect for the Supreme Court and his complete devotion to the cause of justice," he said.
Roberts said he was humbled and honored.
"I'm very much aware that if I am confirmed I would succeed a man I deeply respect and admire, a man who has been very kind to me for 25 years. Thank you, Mr. President, for that special opportunity," he said. |
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