Rehnquist plans to swear in Bush
Chief justice weakened from cancer treatment
By Bill Mears
CNN Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Chief Justice William Rehnquist plans to swear in President Bush for a second term Thursday, despite his weakened physical condition from cancer treatment, court sources said Wednesday.
The Supreme Court confirmed that Rehnquist, who is 80, quietly visited the front of the U.S. Capitol last week to look over preparations for the Inauguration Day ceremony.
"He walked the platform route, consistent with his routine for past inaugurations," a court spokesman said.
Sources said he arrived by wheelchair, but walked the Capitol building grounds.
In December, Bush invited the chief justice to administer the oath of office, as Rehnquist has done at every inauguration since 1988.
Thursday's ceremony will be the fifth occasion that Rehnquist will have administered the oath of office.
"He told the president that he'd come and you know, nobody takes their job more seriously than the current chief justice," said Jay Jorgensen, a former Rehnquist clerk. "So I expect to see him there and look forward to seeing him there."
Rehnquist missed oral arguments this week, and has been absent from the bench since his thyroid cancer was first diagnosed in late October.
In a brief statement January 7, the court cited "continuing secretions caused by his tracheotomy and radiation therapy" for his continued absence. It was the same day Rehnquist marked his 33rd anniversary on the Supreme Court.
The court said he continues to work from home on the court's caseload and his administrative duties, and he has visited his court office several times.
Rehnquist underwent an emergency tracheotomy October 22, a day after being admitted to a Navy hospital outside Washington. The court has said he is receiving chemotherapy and radiation treatment on an outpatient basis.
The extent of his illness has not been made public, but medical experts say the type of treatment he has been receiving indicates a serious form of the disease.
Only eight times has a chief justice not administered the oath of office.
Theodore Roosevelt in 1901 and Lyndon Johnson in 1963 were sworn in under such circumstances by other judges. Calvin Coolidge in 1923 was sworn in by his father, a notary public, although a second swearing-in was held later after the validity of the first was questioned.
