Chief Justice of the United States
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 This article is part of the series Politics of the United States |
| Federal government The Constitution |
| Congress - Senate - House of Representatives |
| Supreme Court - Chief Justice - Associate Justices |
| President - Vice President - Cabinet Speaker of the House Senate Majority Leader |
| Elections - Presidential elections - Midterm elections |
| Political Parties - Democrats - Republicans |
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the judicial branch of the government of the United States, and presides over the Supreme Court of the United States. The Constitution of the United States does not explicitly establish the office of Chief Justice but presupposes its existence with a single reference in Article I, section 3: "When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside." Nothing more is said in the Constitution regarding the office, including any further distinction between the Chief Justice and the other justices on the Supreme Court.
The current chief justice is John Roberts. Chief Justice Roberts was nominated by President George W. Bush on September 5, 2005, and was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 29 by a vote of 78-22.
The office is often but incorrectly referred to as "Chief Justice of the Supreme Court." Title 28, United States Code, Sec. 1 specifies the title as "Chief Justice of the United States," and thus, not just of the Court itself. The title changed at the suggestion of Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase, who wished to emphasize the Court's role as a coequal branch of government. By contrast, the other eight members of the Court are Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, not "Associate Justices of the United States."
The Chief Justice, like an associate justice, is nominated by the President and confirmed to sit on the Court by the U.S. Senate. The Constitution of the United States states that all justices of the Court "shall hold their offices during good behaviour," meaning that appointments are for life: they end only when a justice chooses to retire, dies, or is impeached and convicted by the Congress. Some chief justices, like William H. Rehnquist, were elevated by the President after having served previously on the bench as an associate justice. Justices who are elevated to the position of Chief Justice from that of Associate Justice must again be confirmed by the Senate (a rejection by the Senate, however, does not end their tenure as an associate justice; it merely precludes them from serving as Chief Justice). Most chief justices, including Roberts, are nominated to the highest position on the Court without any previous experience on the Court; indeed some, like John Marshall and Earl Warren, without any prior judicial experience.
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Duties
In addition to the duties of the associate justices, the Chief Justice has the following duties:
- The Chief Justice is considered to be the justice with most seniority, independent of the number of years he or she has served.
- In any vote, the most senior justice in the majority has the power to decide who will write the Opinion of the Court. Since the Chief Justice is always considered the most senior member, if he or she is in the majority then the Chief Justice may decide to write the Opinion of the Court, or assign it to some other member of the majority of his or her choice (the Opinion must still receive the votes of a majority of justices after being written; on occasion votes have been known to switch depending on the written drafts, making someone else's draft the Opinion of the Court).
- Chairs the conferences where cases are discussed and voted on by the justices. The Chief Justice normally speaks first, and so has great influence in framing the discussion.
- The Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice shall preside when the Senate tries an impeachment of the President of the United States.
- Two Chief Justices, Salmon P. Chase and William Rehnquist, have had the duty of presiding over the trial in the Senate that follows an impeachment of the President – Chase in 1868 over the proceedings of President Andrew Johnson and Rehnquist in 1999 over the proceedings against President Bill Clinton.
- Presides over the impeachment trial of the Vice President if, under the terms of the 25th Amendment, the Vice President is serving as Acting President. However, no Vice President has been impeached (though Spiro Agnew resigned under threat of impeachment), and none has been Acting President for more than a few hours.
- Administers the oath of office at the inauguration of the President of the United States. This is a traditional, not a constitutional responsibility of the Chief Justice. All federal and state judges, as well as notaries public, are empowered by law to administer oaths and affirmations.
- Serves as the Chancellor of the Smithsonian Institution.
- Serves as the head of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the chief administrative body of the U.S. federal courts. The Judicial Conference is empowered by the Rules Enabling Act to promulgate rules to ensure the smooth operation of the federal courts. Major portions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and Evidence have been adopted by most state legislatures and are considered canonical by American law schools.
- Appoints the members of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (or FISC), a "secret court" which oversees requests for surveillance warrants by federal police agencies (primarily the F.B.I.) against suspected foreign intelligence agents inside the United States. (see 50 U.S.C. § 1803).
Salary
- The salary of the Chief Justice is $203,000 as of 2005 (see 28 U.S.C. § 5).
