What to expect from Senate hearings on Supreme Court chief justice nominee

WASHINGTON — It has been 11 years since a chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee banged his gavel to open hearings on a president's nominee to the Supreme Court.

On Monday, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., convenes several days of hearings on President Bush's nomination of John Roberts to become the 109th justice on the high court and the 17th chief justice.

Some questions and answers about how the process is expected to unfold:

Question: What has Roberts been doing since Bush nominated him?

Answer: Roberts has met with Senate leaders, members of the committee and other senators. He also has brushed up on constitutional and legal issues that may come up at the hearing. He has reviewed committee members' pet issues and his own record as a lawyer and federal appeals court judge.

Roberts was nominated on July 19 to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. After Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist died on Sept. 3, Bush decided that Roberts should lead the court, renominating him on Sept. 5.

Roberts helped carry Rehnquist's casket into the Supreme Court building for the public viewing this past Tuesday and attended Rehnquist's funeral on Wednesday.

Question: What would be the difference between Roberts serving as chief justice instead of associate justice?

Answer: As chief justice, Roberts would be the court's leader and spokesman. He would decide who writes the court's opinion if he is on the majority side of the decision. He would run the meetings in which the justices discuss and vote on cases, and he would preside over presidential impeachment in the Senate.

The chief justice also presides over the Judicial Conference of the United States, the judiciary's administrative governing board, and chooses the director and deputy director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, which supports the federal courts' daily operations.

Question: How long has it been since the last round of Supreme Court confirmation hearings?

Answer: Eleven years and two months. Stephen Breyer's confirmation hearings were July 12-15, 1994. The nomination passed the committee on July 19, and Breyer was confirmed by the Senate by a vote of 87-9 on July 29, 1994.

The last confirmation hearing for a chief justice was for Rehnquist, which ran from July 29-Aug. 1, 1986. Rehnquist's confirmation vote was 65-33 on Sept. 17, 1986.

Question: Who is on the Senate committee?