Roberts Confirmed as 17th Chief Justice

Owen would almost surely trigger fierce opposition, because Senate Democrats blocked her appellate court nomination with a filibuster in Bush's first term. Owen and several other filibustered nominees were eventually confirmed only after a May compromise that ended a Republican threat to outlaw judicial filibusters.

Democrats would see Owen's nomination as essentially an insult, party sources said. "If it's an ideologue such as a Janice Rogers Brown or an Owen," said Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), mentioning another once-filibustered judge, "I think there's a good chance that we would move to block it on the floor" with unending debate.

Numerous Republicans have said an effort to filibuster a Supreme Court nominee chosen by a twice-elected president would be foolhardy. If necessary, some said, Republicans would revive their plan to change Senate rules and bar judicial filibusters.

Roberts, who was a lawyer in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations and later an appellate judge, drew rave reviews from many senators for his encyclopedic knowledge of constitutional law and his smooth answers during two days of Senate hearings this month. Liberals complained that he dodged too many questions, including those meant to reveal his beliefs about abortion and other contentious issues.

"I am not an ideologue," Roberts said at the hearings. He underlined the point yesterday in his brief White House speech after Justice John Paul Stevens, the most senior member of the court, administered the oath of office. "Judging is different from politics," Roberts said as his wife, Jane, their two children, the president and dozens of administration supporters looked on.

Roberts also said he hoped to "pass on to my children's generation a charter of self-government as strong and as vibrant" as the one Rehnquist left for his.

For an administration plagued by high gasoline prices, bad reviews for hurricane response and ethics problems for key congressional allies, Roberts's almost flawless confirmation process was a welcome success. "I think history will say that George W. Bush knocked it out of the park when he selected John Roberts to be chief justice of the United States," Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters.

Staff writer Michael A. Fletcher contributed to this report.