John Roberts was arguing a case before the Supreme Court during the Senate's last impeachment trial. He could be presiding over the next one.
WASHINGTON – The late Chief Justice William Rehnquist was a busy man on Jan. 20, 1999. The impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton was in its second week, and Rehnquist had to stop presiding over an oral argument at the Supreme Court, cross the street, and preside over the Senate.
Like Rehnquist – who once quipped that as the Clinton impeachment trial's presiding officer he"did nothing in particular and did it very well" – Katyal says Roberts would"work hard to be scrupulously fair in carrying out a unique constitutional function." Balls and strikesRoberts' last tango with the Senate came in 2005, when he defined the chief justice's role as that of an umpire calling balls and strikes en route to his 78-22 confirmation. Since then, he has tried to keep the Supreme Court out of politics – not always with success.
In absentia, it would be Trump appearing before Roberts in a Senate impeachment trial, but the chief justice's role is more umpire than judge or jury. The Senate would acquit or convict the president; Roberts would rule on procedural matters and might break tie votes, but not on conviction, which requires a two-thirds majority of the 100-member Senate.
“He knows that when he crosses First Street, he's going to be putting himself right in the middle of the workings of the political branch," Lazarus says."He’s going to work hard to keep above the fray.”
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