WASHINGTON — President Bush moved quickly Monday to replace the late William H. Rehnquist on the Supreme Court by nominating Rehnquist's onetime law clerk, Judge John G. Roberts Jr., to be the nation's 17th chief justice of the United States.
Bush had originally nominated Roberts in July to succeed Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
The switch permits Bush to replace the conservative chief justice with a 50-year-old appellate court judge who appears to be an ideological twin, and would place the future of the court in the hands of a chief justice who could shape it for a generation.
Because Roberts' nomination for O'Connor's seat had been generally well received, the White House and Senate Republicans expect he will be confirmed as chief justice before the first Monday in October, when the Supreme Court begins its new term.
The Oval Office announcement of Roberts' new nomination came less than 36 hours after Rehnquist died at his home in Arlington, Va., and a day before the Senate Judiciary Committee was to open confirmation hearings on Roberts' nomination as an associate justice. Those hearings were put off until at least Thursday.
"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," Bush said. He added that Roberts' "striking ability as a lawyer and his natural gifts as a leader" made him an ideal choice to be chief justice, despite his relative youth.
Roberts had been the first choice of White House lawyers as a successor to Rehnquist, who had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October and was widely expected to retire in June, at the end of the court's 2004-05 term.
Roberts was selected as O'Connor's successor because she retired, and because Rehnquist said he had no intention of leaving the court.
When she wrote to Bush about her plans to retire, O'Connor said she would remain on the court until her successor was confirmed, and she reiterated that sentiment Monday.
Intense speculation again focused on who would replace O'Connor, the court's swing vote on issues such as religion, abortion and affirmative action. Bush said Monday that he would choose her successor in a "timely manner."
If the president nominates Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales or Judge Edith Brown Clement from the federal appellate court in New Orleans, the change may not tip the balance of the court to the right. Both are seen as moderate conservatives, somewhat in the mold of O'Connor.
