WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist's pledge to continue working despite his thyroid cancer leaves the White House with just one Supreme Court seat to fill, suddenly changing the dynamic of the summer confirmation battle.

The prospects of a double high court vacancy had much of Washington in a frenzy. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced earlier this month that she was stepping down, and the retirement of 80-year-old Rehnquist was thought to be next.

"I want to put to rest the speculation and unfounded rumors of my imminent retirement," Rehnquist said in a statement first disclosed by The Associated Press late Thursday and later confirmed by the court.

Rehnquist said he would "continue to perform my duties as chief justice as long as my health permits."

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Richard Garnett, a Notre Dame law professor and former Rehnquist law clerk, said "the chief justice's decision liberates the president."

"The question mark that was hanging over the process is now gone," Garnett said. "President Bush has fewer impediments in doing what he has said all along he was going to do -- nominate a conservative justice in the mold of Justice (Antonin) Scalia."

But Supreme Court historian David Garrow said Bush "has to do something other than a white male appellate judge: whether it is a woman, whether it's Hispanic, whether it's someone outside the judicial box."

Rehnquist has been battling thyroid cancer, and medical experts initially had speculated that he probably had the deadly anaplastic form of the disease, based on the chemotherapy-radiation treatment he began receiving in October. 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.

O'Connor had announced her retirement unexpectedly as the White House, the Senate and outside groups were preparing for the chief justice to leave the court. The White House expanded its list of candidates in looking for a replacement for O'Connor, the first female justice and a moderate conservative.

Dual vacancies 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.

"It ratchets up the pressure for this pick," Duke University professor Erwin Chemerinsky said.

Rehnquist issued the statement hours after being released from an Arlington, Va., hospital, where he had stayed two nights for a fever.

Bush had not been informed in advance about Rehnquist' statement but the White House welcomed the 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.

It was unclear whether Rehnquist's revelation would affect the timing of an announcement of O'Connor's successor.

Elliot Mincberg, counsel for the liberal People for the American Way, said Rehnquist may have been concerned that the speculation about his future was slowing the process of nominating O'Connor's replacement.

"The question that remains is whether Bush will seek meaningful consultation and nominate someone both liberals and conservatives can embrace," Mincberg said.

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.

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

Sean Rushton, director of the Committee for Justice, a group formed to push Bush's nominee, said having one fewer nominee for liberal groups to denounce likely makes it harder for the left to turn the Senate confirmation hearing into a "back alley brawl."

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who heads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said a second nomination would have slowed the confirmation process and completely changed the Senate dynamic.

"Having more than one nomination could have made things harder, or easier," Schumer said. "I'm glad we can now move forward with the one vacancy that we do have."

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, he 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.