Right Side of the Rainbow

Chicago Tribune:

WASHINGTON -- Stepping up preparations for the possible retirement of Chief Justice William Rehnquist -- perhaps as early as next week -- the White House has narrowed its list to a handful of federal appeals court judges and has conducted interviews with leading contenders, a senior administration official said Tuesday.

Senior White House officials and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have interviewed top candidates and briefed President Bush, but the president has not made a decision, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

[...]

The White House has focused on several nominees with established conservative records: Judges J. Michael Luttig and J. Harvie Wilkinson of the Richmond, Va.-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and Judge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of the Philadelphia-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

The official said the administration also has considered a number of judges President Bush has nominated to the federal appeals courts, including: John G. Roberts, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Michael McConnell, of the Denver-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, and William Pryor, of the Atlanta-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.

Of those nominees, Luttig, Alito and Roberts have emerged as the leading contenders, sources close to the White House said. But Wilkinson remains very much in consideration, the administration official said.

Reportedly, Mr. Gonzales is also a possible nominee. But James Joyner at Outside the Beltway makes a cogent case for holding the attorney general in abeyance:

Gonzales makes no sense as a Chief Justice appointment. He's the worst of all worlds: a bruising confirmation battle plus a weakening of Bush's ideological position on the Court.

[...]

If Bush is set on appointing Gonzales, it would be more appropriate to wait for the retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor or John Paul Stevens. While they're both Republican appointees, they're both significantly to the left of Rehnquist. Putting Gonzales into one of those slots, especially Stevens', would be an upgrade.

(Thanks to How Appealing.)