Statements from both Democrats and Republicans indicated Roberts' resume makes him a highly qualified nominee, but diverged on how smoothly his confirmation hearings may unfold.
"The president has chosen someone with suitable legal credentials, but that is not the end of our inquiry," Senate minority leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement. "The Senate must review Judge Roberts' record to determine if he has a demonstrated commitment to the core American values of freedom, equality and fairness."
Roberts was approved unanimously by a voice vote when he was nominated as a federal appeals judge for the D.C. Circuit in 2003, but was opposed in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the same body that will hold hearings on his Supreme Court nomination, by three Democrats: Charles Schumer of New York, Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Dick Durbin of Illinois.
After a breakfast meeting with Roberts Wednesday, President Bush said, "We're off to a very good start for his nomination" and it is important "for Judge Roberts to get a fair hearing, a timely hearing and a hearing that will bring great credit to our nation."
Mr. Bush urged the Senate to move quickly on Roberts' confirmation.
But some Democrats, especially on the Judiciary Committee, said that Roberts' two years on the federal bench leaves a sparse record from which to judge his qualifications for the high court.
"If he wants to be on the Supreme Court, he has to be more forthcoming ... to convince the American people that a man who could serve on the court for 20 to 30 years really is in the mainstream of American thinking," said Durbin.
"We expect full answers," said Judiciary Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. "No one is entitled to a free pass to a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court."
Schumer told reporters that "many of his personal views are unknown, for these reasons it is vital that John Roberts answer a wide range of questions."
Democrats expressed particular concern over Roberts' stance on abortion. As deputy solicitor general during the administration of George H.W. Bush, Roberts signed a legal brief stating that Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that said women have a constitutional right to have an abortion, was "wrongly decided" and should be overturned because "the court's conclusion in Roe that there is a fundamental right to an abortion ... finds no support in the text, structure, or history of the Constitution."
But when Roberts was nominated to the D.C. Circuit court of appeals in 2003 he told senators in his confirmation hearing that he considered the Roe v. Wade decision "the settled law of the land" and a precedent that he could apply with no personal misgivings.
Former Sen. Fred Thompson, who the White House has tapped to shepherd Roberts through the nomination process, said many of the positions Roberts has taken are positions he took as an advocate representing a client.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and other Republicans said whatever their concerns about particular cases or laws, senators should not ask how the candidate would rule on them as a Supreme Court justice. They said as a justice, Roberts would be committed to applying the law as it is written by legislatures, not to a political agenda.
"It's really not appropriate to ask a nominee to make promises to politicians based on some platform of how they will perform," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. "Judge Roberts is an exceptional judge, brilliant legal mind, and a man of outstanding character who understands his profound duty to follow the law."
Other Republicans echoed Cornyn's praise.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Roberts is "a brilliant constitutional lawyer with unquestioned integrity. He's the kind of judge that all of us want -- someone committed to applying the law impartially rather than legislating from the bench."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said the president had chosen "someone who understands that the role of a judge is to interpret the law and the Constitution and not legislate from the bench." Frist further said Roberts "will be fair, open-minded and impartial -- not someone who will pre-judge cases, predetermine outcomes or advance a personal political agenda."
As politicians weighed in with mixed views on the nomination, the Washington, D.C. legal community appeared to resoundingly support Roberts. Democratic lawyers such as Walter Dellinger and Seth Waxman, who both served in the Clinton administration as solicitor general, have spoken highly of the 50-year-old judge.
"He is one of the very best and most highly respected appellate lawyers in the nation, with a deserved reputation as a brilliant writer and oral advocate. He is also a wonderful professional colleague both because of his enormous skills and because of his unquestioned integrity and fair-mindedness," Waxman, Dellinger, and around 150 other lawyers wrote in a letter supporting Roberts' appellate court nomination.
Specter predicted that the president has avoided a bitter confirmation battle by picking Roberts. Specter said he expected the "rhetoric will be low."
Still, groups like the National Abortion Rights of America League, an advocacy group for abortion rights, and Progress for America, a group organized to support conservative issues, said they are preparing for dueling media campaigns.
-- Compiled from wire reports and other media sources
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July 20, 2005, 1pm EDT
