Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who has been absent from Supreme Court oral arguments in the past two months because of thyroid cancer, has accepted an invitation from President Bush to administer the oath of office on Jan. 20, a White House official said yesterday.
Bush wrote on Wednesday to ask that the chief justice swear him in, as Rehnquist has sworn in the president at every inauguration starting with that of George H.W. Bush in 1989. The chief justice accepted the invitation in a letter received by the president yesterday, according to Claire Buchan, a White House spokeswoman.
"He is the chief justice, and the president was pleased to ask him if he would administer the oath," Buchan said. "The president is very pleased the chief justice will be doing this."
News of Rehnquist's plans to perform one of his traditional duties, in public, next month would appear to dampen speculation that he might be planning to step down soon.
The chief justice has been receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatments for the cancer. Rehnquist has declined to identify it specifically, but outside experts have surmised it is anaplastic thyroid cancer, a usually fatal disease.
The chief justice's agreement to administer the oath to Bush raises the possibility that he might also return to the bench soon, since the court hears the first arguments after its holiday recess on Jan. 10.
During his absence from oral arguments, the chief justice has continued to participate in the court's decisions, with his voting based on written briefs and transcripts of oral arguments.
