[ConservativeMind]

I don't think he would get that position. He would merely replace the vacancy.

The president should be able to pick someone already on the court to be Chief Justice.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the response. I agree.

[BlackRazor]

The president should be able to pick someone already on the court to be Chief Justice.

Of course he can. Historically, it has been the exception, though. The vast majority of Chief Justices have been new nominees not already on the court.

The disadvantage of elevating an existing associate is that it requires two confirmation hearings -- one for the new nominee and another for elevating an existing associate to Chief Justice.

Depending on whether the Bush administration wants to fight two contentious hearings or not, they may choose to kill two birds with only one hearing by nominating an outsider for Chief Justice.

I'm not advocating Gonzalez, BTW. I'm just saying that I expect the White House will only want one confirmation hearing in this environment, so whoever the new nominee is, I expect that person will be put up for Chief.