| Chief Justice of the United States | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the Supreme Court | |
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| Supreme Court of the United States | |
| Style | Mr. ChiefJustice (informal) Your Honor (within court) The Honorable (formal) |
| Status | Chief justice |
| Member of | Federal judiciary Judicial Conference Administrative Office of the Courts |
| Seat | Supreme Court Building,Washington, D.C. |
| Appointer | Thepresident withSenateadvice and consent |
| Term length | Life tenure |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of the United States |
| Formation | March 4, 1789 (236 years ago) (1789-03-04) |
| First holder | John Jay |
| Salary | $312,200 USD |
| Website | SupremeCourt.gov |
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Thechief justice of the United States is the chief judge of theSupreme Court of the United States and is the highest-ranking officer of theU.S. federal judiciary.Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of theU.S. Constitution grantsplenary power to thepresident of the United States to nominate, and, with theadvice and consent of theUnited States Senate, appoint "Judges of the Supreme Court", who serve until they die, resign, retire, or areimpeached and convicted. The existence of a chief justice is only explicit inArticle I, Section 3, Clause 6 which states that the chief justice shall preside over theimpeachment trial of the president; this has occurred three times, forAndrew Johnson,Bill Clinton, and forDonald Trump's first impeachment.
The chief justice has significant influence in theselection of cases for review, presides whenoral arguments are held, and leads the discussion of cases among the justices. Additionally, when the court renders an opinion, the chief justice, if in the majority, chooses who writes the court's opinion; however, when deciding a case, the chief justice's vote counts no more than that ofany other justice.
While nowhere mandated, thepresidential oath of office is by tradition administered by the chief justice. The chief justice serves as a spokesperson for the federal government's judicial branch and acts as achief administrative officer for the federal courts. The chief justice presides over theJudicial Conference and, in that capacity, appoints the director and deputy director of theAdministrative Office. The chief justice is anex officio member of the Board of Regents of theSmithsonian Institution and, by custom, is electedchancellor of the board.
Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, 17 people have served as Chief Justice, beginning withJohn Jay (1789–1795). The current chief justice isJohn Roberts (since 2005). Five of the 17 chief justices—John Rutledge,Edward Douglass White,Charles Evans Hughes,Harlan Fiske Stone, andWilliam Rehnquist—served as associate justices prior to becoming chief justice. Additionally, Chief JusticeWilliam Howard Taft had previously served aspresident of the United States.
The United States Constitution does not explicitly establish an office of the Chief Justice but presupposes its existence with a single reference in Article I, Section 3, Clause 6: "When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside." Nothing more is said in the Constitution regarding the office.Article III, Section 1, which authorizes the establishment of the Supreme Court, refers to all members of the court simply as "judges". TheJudiciary Act of 1789 created the distinctive titles ofChief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States andAssociate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
In 1866,Salmon P. Chase assumed the title ofChief Justice of the United States, and Congress began using the new title in subsequent legislation.[1] The first person whose Supreme Court commission contained the modified title wasMelville Fuller in 1888.[2] The associate justice title was not altered in 1866 and remains as originally created.
The chief justice, like allfederal judges, isnominated by the president and confirmed to office by the U.S. Senate. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution specifies that they "shall hold their Offices during good Behavior." This language has been interpreted to mean that judicial appointments are effectivelyfor life and that once in office, a justice's tenure ends only when the justice dies, retires, resigns, or is removed from office through the impeachment process. Since 1789, 15 presidents have made a total of 22official nominations to the position of chief justice.[3]
The salary of the chief justice is set by Congress; as of 2024, the annual salary is $312,200, which is slightly higher than that of associate justices, which is $298,500.[4] The practice of appointing an individual to serve as Chief Justice is grounded in tradition; while the Constitution mandates that there be a chief justice, it is silent on the subject of how one is chosen and by whom. There is no specific constitutional prohibition against using another method to select the chief justice from among those justices properly appointed and confirmed to the Supreme Court.
Threeincumbent associate justices have been nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate as Chief Justice: Edward Douglass White in 1910, Harlan Fiske Stone in 1941, and William Rehnquist in 1986. A fourth,Abe Fortas, was nominated to the position in 1968 but was not confirmed. As an associate justice does not have to resign their seat on the court in order to be nominated as Chief Justice, Fortas remained an associate justice. Similarly, when Associate JusticeWilliam Cushing was nominated and confirmed as Chief Justice in January 1796 but declined the office, he too remained on the court. Two former associate justices subsequently returned to service on the court as Chief Justice.John Rutledge was the first. President Washington gave him arecess appointment in 1795. However, his subsequent nomination to the office was not confirmed by the Senate, and he left office and the court. In 1930, former Associate JusticeCharles Evans Hughes was confirmed as Chief Justice. Additionally, in December 1800, former chief justice John Jay was nominated and confirmed to the position a second time but ultimately declined it, opening the way for the appointment ofJohn Marshall.[3]
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Along with their general responsibilities as a member of the Supreme Court, the chief justice has several unique duties to fulfill.
Article I, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution stipulates that the chief justice shallpreside over the Senate trial of animpeached president of the United States. Three chief justices have presided over presidentialimpeachment trials: Salmon P. Chase (1868 trial of Andrew Johnson), William Rehnquist (1999 trial of Bill Clinton), and John Roberts (2020 trial of Donald Trump; Roberts declined to preside over Trump'ssecond trial in 2021, which took place after the end of Trump's presidency. Senatepresident pro-temporePatrick Leahy presided).[5] All three presidents were acquitted in the Senate. Although the Constitution is silent on the matter, the chief justice would, under Senate rules adopted in 1999 prior to the Clinton trial, preside over the trial of an impeached vice president.[6][7] This rule was established to preclude the possibility of a vice president presiding over their own trial.
Many of the court'sprocedures and inner workings are governed by the rules of protocol based on theseniority of the justices. The chief justice always ranks first in theorder of precedence—regardless of the length of the officeholder's service (even if shorter than that of one or more associate justices). This elevated status has enabled successive chief justices to define and refine both the court's culture and its judicial priorities.
The chief justice sets the agenda for the weekly meetings where the justices review the petitions forcertiorari, to decide whether to hear or deny each case. The Supreme Court agrees to hear less than one percent of the cases petitioned to it. While associate justices may append items to the weekly agenda, in practice this initial agenda-setting power of the chief justice has significant influence over the direction of the court. Nonetheless, a chief justice's influence may be limited by circumstances and the associate justices' understanding oflegal principles; it is definitely limited by the fact that they have only a single vote of nine on the decision whether to grant or deny certiorari.[8][9]
Despite the chief justice's elevated stature, their vote carries the same legal weight as the vote of each associate justice. Additionally, they have no legal authority to overrule the verdicts or interpretations of the other eight judges or tamper with them.[8] The task of assigning who shall write the opinion for the majority falls to the most senior justice in the majority. Thus, when the chief justice is in the majority, they always assign the opinion.[10] Early in his tenure, Chief Justice John Marshall insisted upon holdings which the justices could unanimously back as a means to establish and build the court's national prestige. In doing so, Marshall would often write the opinions himself and actively discouraged dissenting opinions. Associate JusticeWilliam Johnson eventually persuaded Marshall and the rest of the court to adopt its present practice: one justice writes an opinion for the majority, and the rest are free to write their own separate opinions or not, whether concurring or dissenting.[11]
The chief justice's formal prerogative—when in the majority—to assign which justice will write the court's opinion is perhaps their most influential power,[9] as this enables them to influence the historical record.[8] They may assign this task to the individual justice best able to hold together a fragile coalition, to an ideologically amenable colleague, or to themselves. Opinion authors can have a large influence on the content of an opinion; two justices in the same majority, given the opportunity, might write very different majority opinions.[9] A chief justice who knows the associate justices well can therefore do much—by the simple act of selecting the justice who writes the opinion of the court—to affect the general character or tone of an opinion, which in turn can affect the interpretation of that opinion in cases before lower courts in the years to come.
The chief justice chairs the conferences where cases are discussed and tentatively voted on by the justices. They normally speak first and so have influence in framing the discussion. Although the chief justice votes first—the court votes in order of seniority—they may strategically pass in order to ensure membership in the majority if desired.[9] It is reported that:
Chief JusticeWarren Burger was renowned, and even vilified in some quarters, for voting strategically during conference discussions on the Supreme Court in order to control the Court's agenda through opinion assignment. Indeed, Burger is said to have often changed votes to join the majority coalition, cast "phony votes" by voting against his preferred position, and declined to express a position at conference.[12]
The chief justice has traditionally administered thepresidential oath of office to new U.S. presidents. This is merely custom, and is not a constitutional responsibility of the chief justice. The Constitution does not require that the presidential oath be administered by anyone in particular, simply that it be taken by the president. Law empowers any federal or state judge, as well asnotaries public, to administer oaths andaffirmations. The chief justice ordinarily administers the oath of office to newly appointed and confirmed associate justices, whereas the seniormost associate justice will normally swear in a new chief justice.
If the chief justice is ill or incapacitated, the oath is usually administered by the seniormost member of the Supreme Court. Eight times, someone other than the chief justice of the United States administered the oath of office to the president.[13]
Since the tenure ofWilliam Howard Taft, the office of chief justice has moved beyond justfirst among equals.[17] The chief justice also:
Unlike Senators and Representatives, who are constitutionally prohibited from holding any other "office of trust or profit" of the United States or of any state while holding their congressional seats, the chief justice and the other members of the federal judiciary are not barred from serving in other positions. John Jay served as a diplomat to negotiate theJay Treaty, andEarl Warren chairedthe President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy.
Under28 U.S.C. § 3, when the chief justice is unable to discharge their functions, or when that office is vacant, the chief justice's duties are carried out by the senior associate justice until the disability or vacancy ends.[20] WhenWilliam Rehnquist was ill in 2004,John Paul Stevens acted in his stead, presiding over oral arguments.
Currently,Clarence Thomas is the senior associate justice.
Since the Supreme Court was established in 1789, the following 17 men have served as chief justice:[21][22]
| Chief Justice | Date confirmed (Vote) | Tenure[a] | Tenure length | Appointed by | Prior position[b] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .jpg) | John Jay (1745–1829) | September 26, 1789 (Acclamation) | October 19, 1789 – June 29, 1795 (Resigned) | 5 years, 253 days | George Washington | Acting United States Secretary of State (1789–1790) |
| 2 | .jpg) | John Rutledge (1739–1800) | December 15, 1795 (10–14)[c] | August 12, 1795[d] – December 28, 1795 (Resigned, nomination having been rejected) | 138 days | Chief Justice of the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas and Sessions (1791–1795) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1789–1791) | |
| 3 | _(3x4_cropped).jpg) | Oliver Ellsworth (1745–1807) | March 4, 1796 (21–1) | March 8, 1796 – December 15, 1800 (Resigned) | 4 years, 282 days | United States Senator fromConnecticut (1789–1796) | |
| 4 | .jpg) | John Marshall (1755–1835) | January 27, 1801 (Acclamation) | February 4, 1801 – July 6, 1835 (Died) | 34 years, 152 days | John Adams | 4th United States Secretary of State (1800–1801) |
| 5 | .jpg) | Roger B. Taney (1777–1864) | March 15, 1836 (29–15) | March 28, 1836 – October 12, 1864 (Died) | 28 years, 198 days | Andrew Jackson | 12th United States Secretary of the Treasury (1833–1834) |
| 6 | .jpg) | Salmon P. Chase (1808–1873) | December 6, 1864 (Acclamation) | December 15, 1864 – May 7, 1873 (Died) | 8 years, 143 days | Abraham Lincoln | 25th United States Secretary of the Treasury (1861–1864) |
| 7 | .jpg) | Morrison Waite (1816–1888) | January 21, 1874 (63–0) | March 4, 1874 – March 23, 1888 (Died) | 14 years, 19 days | Ulysses S. Grant | Ohio State Senator (1849–1850) Presiding officer, Ohio constitutional convention (1873) |
| 8 | .jpg) | Melville Fuller (1833–1910) | July 20, 1888 (41–20) | October 8, 1888 – July 4, 1910 (Died) | 21 years, 269 days | Grover Cleveland | President, Illinois State Bar Association (1886) Illinois State Representative (1863–1865) |
| 9 | .jpg) | Edward Douglass White (1845–1921) | December 12, 1910[e] (Acclamation) | December 19, 1910 – May 19, 1921 (Died) | 10 years, 151 days | William Howard Taft | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1894–1910) |
| 10 | .jpg) | William Howard Taft (1857–1930) | June 30, 1921 (Acclamation) | July 11, 1921 – February 3, 1930 (Resigned) | 8 years, 207 days | Warren G. Harding | 27th President of the United States (1909–1913) |
| 11 | .jpg) | Charles Evans Hughes (1862–1948) | February 13, 1930 (52–26) | February 24, 1930 – June 30, 1941 (Retired) | 11 years, 126 days | Herbert Hoover | 44th United States Secretary of State (1921–1925) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1910–1916) |
| 12 | .jpg) | Harlan F. Stone (1872–1946) | June 27, 1941[e] (Acclamation) | July 3, 1941 – April 22, 1946 (Died) | 4 years, 293 days | Franklin D. Roosevelt | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1925–1941) |
| 13 |  | Fred M. Vinson (1890–1953) | June 20, 1946 (Acclamation) | June 24, 1946 – September 8, 1953 (Died) | 7 years, 76 days | Harry S. Truman | 53rd United States Secretary of the Treasury (1945–1946) |
| 14 | .jpg) | Earl Warren (1891–1974) | March 1, 1954 (Acclamation) | October 5, 1953[d] – June 23, 1969 (Retired) | 15 years, 261 days | Dwight D. Eisenhower | 30th Governor of California (1943–1953) |
| 15 | .jpg) | Warren E. Burger (1907–1995) | June 9, 1969 (74–3) | June 23, 1969 – September 26, 1986 (Retired) | 17 years, 95 days | Richard Nixon | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1956–1969) |
| 16 | .jpg) | William Rehnquist (1924–2005) | September 17, 1986[e] (65–33) | September 26, 1986 – September 3, 2005 (Died) | 18 years, 342 days | Ronald Reagan | Associate Justice of the Supreme Court (1972–1986) |
| 17 | .jpg) | John Roberts (born 1955) | September 29, 2005 (78–22) | September 29, 2005 – Incumbent | 20 years, 19 days | George W. Bush | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2003–2005) |
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