Bush to Nominate Roberts for Chief Justice

FoxNews ^ | Sept 5, 2005

[TomGuy]

Newsreaders on FoxNews just said a 'Senior administration spokesman' has said Bush plans to nominate Roberts for Chief Justice position.

[Kath]

Exactally!!!!

[Democratshavenobrains]

Yeah, but Democrats would still whine about it and pretend that Ginsburg was really "moderate" anyway.

[Kath]

Just exactally what makes Ann Coulter qualified to be a supreme court justice???? I hope that was intended as humor.

[PhiKapMom]

The Chief Justice is a total gem. I had visions of him Saturday night chuckling away about what was about to happen!

[Kath]

Oh man the horror of that thought!!!

[Dont_Tread_On_Me_888]

Are you suggesting Free Republic is not a forum for discussion?

[PhiKapMom]

These two Senators are AWESOME to say the least!

[AmishDude]

Thank you. That's interesting. I'm not sure why someone would return after retiring, but it emphasizes the point that Chief Justices are more often selected from outside the court. A 2-for-1 nomination, if you will.

[not-alone]

President Bush is a top notch administrator, and by the speed with which this decision was made, I'd say it was all done well beforehand..........with Rehnquist's approval.

I totally agree with you and was delighted with the announcement. I LOL at Senator Dodd yesterday saying that we shouldn't do anything this coming court session and leave O'Connor in place, Stevens would become Chief because of seniority. Wouldn't that be wonderful

The President is ahead of them on every turn.Now possible one battle for a real conserative to replace O'Connor. After all the carping about another women, Owen or Brown would be good choices.

[American Quilter]

Wow. I want to believe President Bush knows what he's doing here, but isn't this quite a slap at Scalia and Thomas? Or maybe he offered it to them and they said no?

I do remember reading in the last couple of years that Scalia plans to step down once he's sure he'd be replaced with an equal conservative. But I've read nothing to that effect about Thomas. I'd sure like to know what's going on behind the scene.

[AmishDude]

So, who is O'Connor's replacement? It seems to me that Roberts is now Rehnquist's replacement. (BTW, it is so sad that Rehnquist didn't get the chance to swear in his old clerk. I am convinced he didn't retire just so he could do this.) Certainly if O'Connor retires before two confirmations, there is still a vacancy.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

I would prefer Scalia be elevated, and then Scalia be replaced by a staunch conservative. Following Robert's jioning the court, the overall "balance" will probably be only more slightly conservative than it had been, but that would be a win and the Dims would be hard presses to prevent it. I'm still concerned about Bush appointing his clearly liberal buddy, Gonzales. That could be coming, and would net out to a more than slight idiological shift away from conservatism, which would be a disaster.

[Kath]

And Democrats call President Bush out of touch. Did Sen Dodd really think the President would allow Stevens to be in charge??? If so he's out of touch.

[deport]

So, who is O'Connor's replacement?

---

One hasn't been named but lots of speculation sprinkled among the various threads on Roberts/Rehnquist...

[Hank Rearden]

I'm sure he wishes all this would end.... and he could get back to private life.

The flacking is getting dense in here.

You've lost perspective; Bush is a professional Big Government politician, addicted to power and spending our money. Nobody forced him to run for reelection. 9/11 had happened, it was obvious SC justices would need appointing, and hurricanes happen every year.

He's able to leave anytime and passed up the opportunity in 2004.

[AmishDude]

Scalia is older than Thomas and has a large family. He can make a lot more money in the private sector. The rumors I've heard is that he wanted to be CJ, otherwise he would retire. My suspicion is that he would retire before the end of Bush's term. Certainly Bush has managed to seat some very conservative judges who could replace Scalia.

He'd have to retire before the November 2008 elections because no conservative could get confirmed in a lame duck session. And he wouldn't want to retire in the summer of 2008, making it a political fight. I suspect Scalia is waiting until summer 2007. With any luck, the GOP will pick up a seat net in the Senate and the Dems will be too cowed to filibuster.

[TeleStraightShooter]

Considering how Scalia often flames his fellow jurists, he might not make the best Chief J... Even thought I like his style.

[American Quilter]

I guess Scalia and Thomas just didn't want to go through the confirmation hearings again.

Oh, now I get it. I didn't realize there's a confirmation hearing when a justice is elevated to Chief. I can certainly understand Scalia and Thomas not wanting to subject themselves to that.

[ohioWfan]

I had visions of him Saturday night chuckling away about what was about to happen!

LOL! I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find out he did!

[Liberatio]

Personally, I think Roberts should not be the nominee for chief justice. Other members should be considered who have "put in their time" before Roberts. Thats should be a position reserved for members who have experience on that particular court.

Also...i do feel mischievous and should say this before (maybe too late) the left says that Bush must have off'd Rehnquist in a secret CIA cover up in order to get Roberts nominated as the chief justice.