Timeline for Roberts' Confirmation Hearings in Doubt
President Bush urges the Senate to confirm John Roberts as chief justice within a month. Democrats have called for a postponement of confirmation hearings because of Hurricane Katrina and the death of Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. It's unclear whether hearings will begin as scheduled on Tuesday.
RENEE MONTAGNE, host:
This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.
President Bush this morning nominated Judge John Roberts to be the next chief justice of the Supreme Court. Judge Roberts would replace William Rehnquist. He had been nominated earlier this summer to replace Sandra Day O'Connor. Speaking from the Oval Office with Judge Roberts at his side, the president called for Roberts to be confirmed as chief justice quickly.
President GEORGE W. BUSH: 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.
MONTAGNE: Joining me now is NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg.
Good morning, Nina.
NINA TOTENBERG reporting:
Good morning, Renee.
MONTAGNE: Well, little turn of events this morning. What happens now? Do Judge Roberts' confirmation hearings, which are now scheduled for tomorrow--do they go forward?
TOTENBERG: Well, that's the $64 question. The president now has to withdraw the nomination of Roberts as an associate justice, resubmit it as chief justice. The Democrats have been asking that the hearings be postponed both because of Katrina and because there are hearings about Katrina this week, and because also now with the death of the chief justice there's so much more to do. And other senators have joined them. It remains unclear whether the hearings will go forward tomorrow with the funeral of the chief justice on Wednesday. But certainly they will continue soon. The president said he hopes to get him confirmed within the month, and that probably is possible. But the Democrats will want to see more. There'll probably be more fights about documents that have still been withheld, etc.
MONTAGNE: Justice O'Connor said she would retire on confirmation of her successor. The court opens on the first Monday in October. Does that mean that O'Connor will now continue to serve and that the court will continue to have nine justices?
TOTENBERG: Well, it certainly could. She very deliberately phrased it that way and she can participate, and the question is if she participates in hearing cases and in voting on cases and she's not there when they're finally issued, if her vote would be critical it would obviously make a difference. And if she's gone, it--by the time that the decision were to come out, she couldn't participate in the decision anymore. So it's a tricky question and I think it's not yet entirely resolved.
MONTAGNE: And what is the significance of being chief justice? What power does one have as chief that one doesn't have as just a regular justice on the Supreme Court?
TOTENBERG: Well, first we should say that John Roberts has been nominated to be only the 17th chief justice in the nation's history. He would likely be there for 30 years or more possibly, and the chief is said to be the first among equals. He has only one vote like everybody else; his main power is the power to assign who writes opinions when he's in the majority. He does not assign opinions when he's in the minority. And so it's very much a psychological thing. Some chief justices are very powerful because of the force of their personality and leadership; others are very--not. Somebody else is important within the court.
MONTAGNE: And if John Roberts has been nominated from outside the court, is that particularly unusual rather than...
TOTENBERG: No, that's the norm, Renee, actually. Only six of the now 17 chief justices were promoted from within the court, so it's actually the case that most chief justices come from outside the court.
MONTAGNE: And in terms of confirmation hearings, is there something so special about a chief justice, though, that--you talk about wanting to know more. I mean, are the qualifications still the same?
TOTENBERG: The qualifications are still the same, although there is, of course, the leadership question. But it is a psychological thing to be the chief justice. And you're not just the chief justice of the United States Supreme Court; you're the chief justice of the United States. You are the head of the federal judiciary, a co-equal branch of the government, and therefore, the senators do look at chief justice as slightly different.
MONTAGNE: NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg. Thanks very much.
TOTENBERG: Thank you, Renee.
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