09/06/2005
President George W. Bush has nominated John Roberts to be the 17th chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. The president had nominated Roberts to be an associate justice of the Supreme Court earlier this summer after Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her retirement.
The latest nomination came Monday morning, two days after Chief Justice William Rehnquist passed away. Bush said the nomination was a simple one, especially with the reconvention of the Supreme Court only four weeks away.
“It is in the interest of the Court and the country to have a chief justice on the bench on the first full day of the fall term,” he said. “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 that the Senate can complete hearings and confirm him as chief justice within a month.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee was scheduled to start a hearing today on the nomination of Roberts as associate justice, but the hearing was postponed due to the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist and the subsequent nomination of Roberts as chief justice. According to Congressional Quarterly, the hearing on Roberts’ nomination will begin Sept. 12.
Committee Chairman Arlen Specter is confident that the hearing on Roberts can be completed next week in time for the new term of the Supreme Court, which starts Oct. 3. The White House has not yet announced its new plans for replacing retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
