John Roberts Supreme Court nomination

The Senate hearings on the nomination of John Roberts to the Supreme Court, began on September 12, 2005, with U.S. Senators posing questions to Roberts, who was nominated by President George W. Bush to fill the vacancy of Chief Justice of the United States.

Roberts had been nominated to the Supreme Court to replace the retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor; however, on September 5, following Chief Justice William Rehnquist's death, President Bush announced the nomination of Roberts for the position of Chief Justice and formally sent notice to the United States Senate of the new nomination and the withdrawal of Roberts's prior nomination.

On September 29, Roberts was confirmed as Chief Justice by a full Senate vote of 78–22. The 50-year-old Roberts became the youngest Chief Justice in recent history. Only John Marshall, who was 45 when he joined the court in 1801, and John Jay, appointed at age 44 in 1789, were younger.

Prior to naming Roberts, Bush reportedly considered a wide range of candidates.

With the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist, Bush withdrew Roberts' nomination for associate justice and renominated him for chief justice, with only a slight delay in his confirmation hearings to allow for Rehnquist's funeral services.

Former Senator Fred Thompson helped to promote Roberts' nomination. The nomination was first considered by the 18-member Senate Judiciary Committee, which voted 13–5 on September 22 to send the nomination to the full Senate.

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