U.S. Supreme Court Justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts (L), arrive in the House chamber prior to U.S. President Barack Obama's final State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington January 12, 2016. REUTERS/Evan Vucci/Pool - RTX224MYReuters
- TitleChief Justice
- AffiliationU.S. Supreme Court
Roberts spent much of the past year as a leader in limbo: The Senate’s refusal to consider President Obama’s nominee to replace the late Antonin Scalia left the Supreme Court with a 4-to-4 ideological deadlock in several cases. But Roberts earned plaudits for keeping things humming relatively smoothly. And court watchers say it’s telling that President Trump’s first high-court nominee, Neil Gorsuch, is very much in the Roberts mold: a conservative with the intellectual and diplomatic skill to forge centrist consensus as needed.