SUPREME COURT Vacancies create new challenge Bush said he'll nominate a replacement promptly

Some senators have asked to delay Roberts' confirmation hearings in respect for Rehnquist.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist's death created upheaval in Washington on Sunday, as President Bush and the Senate scrambled to deal with two court vacancies, including this week's scheduled confirmation hearings of nominee John Roberts.
Flags flew at half-staff at the Supreme Court and the Capitol across the street in honor of the chief justice, who was on the Supreme Court for 33 years and its leader for 19.
Rehnquist's body will lie in repose in the Great Hall of the Supreme Court on Tuesday and Wednesday, and he will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery after services Wednesday.
The court announced Sunday that the public will be invited to pay its respects from 10:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. Tuesday and from 10 a.m. until noon Wednesday.
Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. at St. Matthew's Cathedral in Washington, D.C., with funeral services open to friends and family. The burial at Arlington will be private.
As workers planned to drape the chief justice's seat in black for the beginning of the Supreme Court's new term on Oct. 3, the president said he would move to fill the vacancy promptly for the good of the nation.
"I will choose in a timely manner a highly qualified nominee to succeed Chief Justice Rehnquist," he said in a televised announcement from the White House. He planned to head back to the Hurricane Katrina-devastated Gulf Coast today.
Confirmation hearings
The fate of Bush's first nominee to the nation's highest court remains up in the air, but Roberts appeared to be heading for confirmation, as Democrats could not raise significant problems about his nomination.
But Democrats now want Roberts' scheduled confirmation hearings this week to be delayed in part because of Rehnquist's death.
"Out of respect for the memory of Chief Justice Rehnquist and in fairness to those whose lives continue to be devastated by Katrina, the Senate should not commence a Supreme Court confirmation hearing this Tuesday. A brief postponement will not disadvantage anyone," said Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., were expected to discuss soon whether to delay the hearings. An announcement might not come until Rehnquist's family announces funeral arrangements.
Roberts is slated to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who has said she will stay on the court until her replacement is confirmed.
Two openings
But Rehnquist's death brings open a second position, the first time since 1971 that there have been two vacancies on the Supreme Court at roughly the same time. Rehnquist, then a Justice Department lawyer advising President Nixon on how to handle the rare opportunity, and Lewis Powell Jr. were nominated as associate justices to fill those two positions in 1971.
It is unlikely the Supreme Court will have all nine positions filled before the new term begins next month, because it could take up to three hearings to complete the court's roster.
Bush could nominate Roberts to fill the chief justice's chair, elevate a sitting justice like Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas to the top spot, or nominate a new person for chief.
If a sitting justice is elevated, the Senate Judiciary Committee would have to hold a separate chief justice hearing, as well as two more hearings: one to replace the person newly elevated to chief justice and another one on Roberts.
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