BREAKING: Chief Justice Rehnquist Has Died (CNN)

[jerseyhoya34]

Chief Justice Rehnquist has died. May he rest in peace.

[DFW HOYA]

Thanks for the news. Your post was ahead of bulletins at Fox News, ABC, and NBC.

[jerseyhoya34]

I was tuned in to CNN on tv, and I think they had it first.

[hoya4ever]

First, may he rest in peace and my deepest sympathies to his family. Second, who is going to take his place? The new guy is probably not the best choice if he has even been confirmed yet (I didn't follow his campaign).

[showcase]

Never agreed with many of his decisions (if any), but may he rest in peace.

It will be very interesting to see who is nominated to replace Rehnquist. Perhaps Judge Roberts will replace him, and Justice O'Connor will stay on until the next nominee is confirmed? SCOTUS will need someone to be Chief Justice, after all, and who better than the swing vote and former girlfriend of the last Chief Justice?

[RBHoya]

Scalia for Chief Justice?

[nychoya3]

Question: If Bush wants to elevate a sitting Justice to Chief, wouldn't that entail another Senate vote? If so, would they really want to carry the load on three confirmation hearings, facing a very hostile Democratic party and a increasingly unhappy Republicans? That's a heavy lift for a president with a 40% approval rating and gaping wounds in Iraq and the Gulf Coast. Particularly since Chief Justice isn't a particularly powerful post, with just a couple minor advantages over the rest of the court. I doubt it'd be worth the fight to try and cram Scalia into the spot.

O'Conner retired to care for her sick husband. I doubt she's interested in coming back. Anyway, she's not a true believer, and not a particular favorite of the folks who'll be doing the nominating.

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

I think that the logical candidates are Scalia and Thomas - and I don't think Bush cares too much about his approval rating as long as he has the votes.

[Cambridge]

Scalia or Thomas would pretty much scuttle all attempts at any future legislature the white house wants. They must choose if they want the court or the demolition of the welfare state.

[nychoya3]

I have no doubt that Bush would love to install Scalia - I just don't think it's feasible. The Roberts nomination, though likely to be successful, is already shaping up to be bloodier than they had hoped. Specter isn't playing according to the script, and a lot of other GOP moderates (though beaten down pretty well) are uncomfortable. Distancing themselves from Bush is beginning to look like a viable survival strategy. Chafee has folded in the past - with a tough race in 2006 in a liberal state, will he do so again?

If he appoints someone from off the court to Chief, I assume they'll look for someone with plenty of status. McConnell, perhaps? Or maybe he'll appoint a political sort - Cornyn or another Senator?

The Bush/Rove response to trouble has generally been to press the attack. I don't know if they'll find the press or their party as amenable to that strategy as they have in the past. Of course, I've been wrong before, and the banality of this White House rarely disappoints my lowly expectations.

[EasyEd]

I predict that Bush knew all along he would have the Chief Justice nomination coming right after John Roberts and he will now nominate a woman to be Chief Justice and dare the Democrats to Bork her.

[jerseyhoya34]

ed said:

I predict that Bush knew all along he would have the Chief Justice nomination coming right after John Roberts and he will now nominate a woman to be Chief Justice and dare the Democrats to Bork her.

I doubt it. Obviously, they probably recognized the distinct possibility that Rehnquist would resign or pass away, but I doubt they went with that kind of plan. If they were going to nominate a woman, they would have done so to replace O'Connor. At this stage in the ballgame, they'll probably bump up Scalia so they can have a CJ in place near the start of the term. They very well may nominate a woman at that time as an associate justice, or they may go with the long-rumored torture advocate or someone else.

[DFW HOYA]

If Scalia was elevated, there would be another confirmation hearing for him, and that would get messy.

A female or Hispanic chief justice is certainly a possibility if the past candidates are still in the mix. The position by its very nature could add a few more names, too. Prior to Rehnquist's predecessor (Warren Burger), past chief justices in the 20th century have come from some unusual places:

Earl Warren was the governor of California.
Fred Vinson was Secretary of the Treasury.
Harlan Stone was Attorney General.
Charles Evans Hughes was Secretary of State.
William Howard Taft was a former President.

And for what it's worth, about the time that the Rehnquist retirement rumors swirled around the Web, there are were also claims that Justice Stevens was mulling retirement. Didn't happen, of course, but any other sudden vacancy would really stir things up.

[jerseyhoya34]

I realize that there would need to be hearings if Scalia were elevated, but some people may view such a decision as a source of stability because he is already on the court. Additionally, nominating an "outsider" would necessitate more time so the Senate is able to examine the nominee's record, whereas you would not have as much of a "discovery" period with Scalia because his record is already fairly well known.

[jerseyhoya34]

WH considering whether to flip-flop the Roberts nomination and throw him up as the CJ nominee...

www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/04/AR2005090401525_pf.html

[StPetersburgHoya (Inactive)]

One thought about this - Pat Robertson must be insanely happy that his prayer for more SCOTUS vacancies has been answered.