Hot day ahead for the Supreme Court as it ends its term; hands down some highly anticipated rulings (including a Ten Commandments case and the Cooper/Miller confidential sources appeal); and prepares for a likely resignation.

Hugh Hewitt and Bill Kristol had dueling predictions last week. Hugh sez Rehnquist; Kristol sez O’Connor. We’ll know soon enough. Steve at Southern Appeal was an early betting man on successors; he’s going with Michael McConnell.

Tons of stories speculating on successors to Rehnquist.

Heavy lobbying campaigns already under way on both sides.

Washington Post’s Monday morning edition reports:

The White House gathered key political operatives at a strategy meeting Friday to prepare for a possible Supreme Court vacancy that officials believe could occur this week, leading to the first high court confirmation battle in a decade, according to Republicans informed about the session.

The meeting, hosted by White House Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr., his deputy Karl Rove and counsel Harriet Miers, was called to ensure that President Bush’s supporters are ready for the high-stakes, high-intensity, high-dollar campaign that would follow a nomination. But some participants later told associates that they were not sure if any justice would retire.

Hmmm.

Red State hears:

Sources close to the White House are telling Red State that they do expect a Supreme Court vacancy in the next ten days — as soon as tomorrow is possible, but within the next ten days seems most likely.

Robert Novak sez: No, not Gonzales!

It was not merely a leak from the normally leak-proof Bush White House. For more than a week, a veritable torrent has tipped Attorney General Alberto Gonzales as President Bush’s first nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. It has sent the conservative movement into spasms of fear and loathing.

Gonzales long has been unacceptable to anti-abortion activists because of his record as a Texas Supreme Court justice. Beyond pro-lifers, he is opposed by organized conservative lawyers. Ironically, the same Bush supporters who have been raising money and devising tactics for the mother of all judicial confirmation fights are in a panic that Gonzales will be named. With the president’s popularity falling among his conservative base as well as the general populace, a politically disastrous moment may be at hand…

Novak goes on to report that his sources say “Rehnquist is not ready to resign and that O’Connor is readying the way for a return to Arizona with her invalid husband.” One possible replacement for O’Connor, he writes is Appellate Judge Edith Brown Clement (5th Circuit, New Orleans).

Clement would be subject to far more scrutiny as a Supreme Court nominee. So would any other conservative named by Bush, though Democrats may have exhausted scrutinizing Gonzales. The president must choose between a fierce confirmation fight or the alienation of his political base.

Stay tuned…

Update:

SCOTUS wire has all the latest breaking news.

Scotus Watch: File-sharing companies can be sued
Scotus Watch: Miller/Cooper to jail?
Scotus Watch: Cable companies don’t have to share their lines
Scotus Watch: Ten commandments

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Court-watching blogs to bookmark:

The Supreme Court Nomination Blog and SCOTUS blog

Bench Memos

How Appealing

Southern Appeal

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