The US Senate approved on Thursday John Roberts to become the 17th chief justice of the US Supreme Court by a vote of 78-22.

Roberts would become the youngest chief justice in more than 200 years, to succeed the late Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who died on Sept. 3.

He was to be sworn in at a ceremony at the White House in the afternoon, so he could take his seat for the new session of the Supreme Court on Oct. 3.

A federal appellate judge from Maryland, Roberts, 50, was to become the first new chief justice since 1994 and had the potential to lead the Supreme Court for decades.

With the confirmation of Roberts, "the Supreme Court will embark upon a new era in its history, the Roberts era," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

"And for many years to come, long after many of us have left public service, the Roberts court will be deliberating on some of the most difficult and fundamental questions of US law," he said.

Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1955, Roberts was raised in Indiana. He got his undergraduate degree from Harvard in 1976 and graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979.

Roberts was married to lawyer Jane Sullivan Roberts, and had two adopted children.

He was first nominated in July by President George W. Bush to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, but was renominated earlier this month to be chief justice after Rehnquist's death.

Source: Xinhua