LIKE PRESIDENTS BEFORE HIM, George W. Bush has turned to the lower federal bench, specifically to the appeals court in Washington, D.C., to choose a Supreme Court justice. John Roberts has been a circuit judge for two years, but the more salient aspect of his résumé is the time he spent in another part of the federal government–the executive branch.

Of the current justices, only Clarence Thomas served in the executive branch as long as Judge Roberts did–roughly eight years. Justice Thomas worked for a department (Education) and an agency (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) of recent creation (1965 and 1979, respectively). Both are distant suburbs in the modern administrative state. Judge Roberts, in contrast, worked in its downtown, his jobs entailing frequent consideration of presidential authority.