WASHINGTON (AP) – Squelching rumors of his retirement, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said Thursday he will continue heading the Supreme Court while battling thyroid cancer. “I’m not about to announce my retirement,” he said.

“I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement,” Rehnquist, 80, said in a statement first disclosed by The Associated Press and later confirmed by the court. “I will continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits.”

Rehnquist issued the statement hours after being released from an Arlington, Va., hospital after being treated for two days with a fever.

President Bush had not been informed in advance about Rehnquist’ statement but the White House welcomed the chief justice’s announcement.

“The chief justice is doing an outstanding job, and we are pleased he will continue his great service to the nation,” presidential spokesman Scott McClellan said.

His declaration scrambles an unsettled situation on the high court for the second time in less than two weeks. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor unexpectedly stepped down earlier this month at a time when the White House, the Senate and outside groups had been preparing for the chief justice to leave the court.

Rumors of his departure intensified after Rehnquist was hospitalized. The White House was proceeding with contingency plans to fill two vacancies, a prospect that might have given Bush the political flexibility to please more than one constituency. Now that just one seat is vacant, Bush is likely to come under intense pressure from his political base to nominate a hard-line conservative.

Still, this is the first vacancy of Bush’s presidency, and even one new justice to the court has the potential to tip the balance on critical issues such as abortion, affirmative action and gay rights.

Rehnquist, who has been through at least one round of chemotherapy and radiation, surprised many people when he presided at Bush’s inauguration in January and returned to the bench in March, keeping a full schedule.

But outside of a handful of brief statements issued by the court since October, Rehnquist has said nothing publicly about his condition or prognosis. He had also said nothing about his plans on the bench despite the vigil kept by reporters and photographers outside his home.

“I think this is going to put the speculation to rest,” said Edward Lazarus, a Los Angeles attorney and former Supreme Court clerk. “He’s saying, “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

Rehnquist gave no clue how long he’ll remain on the bench, but observers said that’s not unusual because justices rarely tip their hand.

“This should allow the chief and the court to get on with their business,” said Richard Garnett, a former law clerk under Rehnquist. “I’m confident the chief justice would not come to this decision unless he was convinced he could lead the court in the dignified and efficient manner he has been.”

Medical experts initially speculated that Rehnquist probably had the deadly anaplastic form of thyroid cancer, based on the chemotherapy-radiation treatment. But now that seems less likely.

“The prognosis for that is so poor. Most patients succumb very quickly, within three to six months,” said Dr. Mark Urken, a cancer expert at Beth Israel Hospital in New York.

It is more likely that Rehnquist has another more treatable type, said Urken and other physicians not involved in his treatment.

Dr. Kenneth Burman, a thyroid specialist at Washington Hospital Center, said other possibilities are papillary thyroid cancer or lymphoma of the thyroid. People with those types can be treated and live for years without more problems.

Before Thursday evening, Rehnquist had said nothing in public about his future until last week, when a reporter called out to him outside his house to respond to retirement rumors. “That’s for me to know and you to find out,” Rehnquist replied.

Unless another justice unexpectedly retires, Rehnquist’s announcement removes the immediate possibility of a double vacancy, which could have changed Bush’s thinking in nominating someone to fill O’Connor’s seat.

Some advocates had argued that a double vacancy would have given the president the opportunity – although it’s unclear if he would have taken it – to nominate a boni fide conservative jurist to satisfy those on the right and a person with more moderate judicial views to placate Senate Democrats.

“I think having two simultaneously confused the issue and gave the left the opportunity to argue for a mixed slate – one more conservative, one less conservative,” said Sean Rushton, director of the Committee for Justice, a group formed to push Bush’s nominee.

He said conservative groups in recent weeks have been operating on the assumption that Rehnquist was staying. But he said he thinks having one fewer nominee for liberal groups to denounce makes it harder for the left to turn the Senate confirmation hearing into a “back alley brawl.”

“I don’t think this does change things all that much,” Rushton said. “Politically, this announcement allows the president to get down to the serious business of picking a qualified, principled constitutionalist to replace Justice O’Connor.”

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Associated Press writers Terence Hunt and Deb Riechmann contributed to this report.

AP-ES-07-14-05 2221EDT

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