Ailing Chief Justice in No Rush to Go
For months, Washington has buzzed with rumors of William Rehnquist’s retirement from the Supreme Court. But insiders think he could stay through at least June

WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Debra Rosenberg
Newsweek
Updated: 1:46 p.m. ET Jan. 18, 2005

Jan. 18 - Ever since Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist disclosed last fall that he was being treated for thyroid cancer, Washington has buzzed with rumors of his imminent retirement. Inaugural officials say Rehnquist is still expected to administer the oath of office to George W. Bush this Thursday. For most Americans, the swearing-in will be the first public glimpse of the ailing justice since his treatment began.

Despite a New York Post report that the chief justice appeared frail during a visit to the Capitol last week, court insiders say he has regained strength. After a wheelchair ride through the underground corridors of the Capitol, Rehnquist got up and walked the route to the inaugural platform that he’ll travel later this week. Although his voice is raspy and he hasn’t appeared on the bench—a recent statement blamed “secretions” from his radiation treatment—he has been performing other duties at the Court. “He’s walking around. He’s going to the office,” says former White House counsel C. Boyden Gray. “If they put a microphone in the right place, his voice will carry” during the inauguration, Gray says.

Some court watchers now think that even if he decides to resign shortly, Rehnquist could stay through the end of the term this June. “If he truly is feeling better, he’s not going to be in any rush to go,” says Washington lawyer Tom Goldstein, who practices before the court. “We’re all reading medical tea leaves.”

If and when Rehnquist makes the decision to leave, the chief justice could give the White House a confidential heads-up so the president could get a jump on finding a replacement. Or he could keep the news to himself until he makes a public announcement. Staying until June would allow Rehnquist to weigh in on this spring’s juicy cases, including two dealing with public display of the Ten Commandments where he could help overturn a longstanding precedent on church-state separation.

Rehnquist has always been devoted to keeping the Court bureaucracy running smoothly. Leaving at the end of the term would keep the Court from bogging down in 4-4 ties and mean that confirmation hearings on his replacement could be held during the Court’s summer recess. “He loves the Court and is devoted to it as an institution,” says former Rehnquist clerk Charles Cooper. “I know he wants to remain a public servant as long as his health will permit.”

But there are signs that Rehnquist’s absence from the bench has been putting a strain on the Court. His big empty black chair looms over the center of the courtroom; he’s only been voting in cases where a ninth vote would matter. And though Justice John Paul Stevens—the next most senior justice—has been filling in for Rehnquist by making administrative announcements from the bench, Stevens hasn’t taken to another task of the chief justice: cutting off colleagues when they go too far afield during oral arguments. If his health allows, that alone could be enough to lure Rehnquist back to the bench.