As I expected, President Bush has nominated John G. Roberts for the position of Chief Justice of the United States. It's an excellent move: Roberts is a natural for the job. Moreover, Roberts should be easily confirmed for the Chief slot. There wasn't particularly significant opposition to Roberts when he was nominated to replace O'Connor; the main argument of Roberts opponents going into this week's confirmation hearings was that Roberts might upset the balance of the current Supreme Court by voting more like Rehnquist than O'Connor. With Roberts replacing Rehnquist, however, this argument doesn't really go anywhere.

  The key question now is who the President will nominate to fill O'Connor's slot. The choice is entirely the President's to make, of course, so it's hard to predict. Not that this will stop anyone from trying.