OK, so there isn’t a specific D.C. angle other than it takes place here, but this is pretty monumental news in the larger scheme of things.

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, today announced her resignation, the first in over 10 years and one likely to set up what is sure to be a long and brutal battle between conservative factions looking to reign in “judicial activism” and liberals seeking to maitain the votes necessary to uphold certain controversial decisions, most notably 1973’s Roe v. Wade.

Many court watchers originally assumed that Chief Justice William Rehnquist, who is suffering from cancer, would be the first to resign, but O’Connor’s desire to spend more time with her ailing husband has dated back to 2000. Her resignation offers the Bush Administration the chance to appoint a reliable conservative where once existed a swing voter, and various names have thus far been floated — U.S. Court of Appeals Judges J. Michael Luttig of the 4th Circuit, John G. Roberts of the D.C. Circuit, Appeals Judges Samuel A. Alito Jr. of the 3rd Circuit, Michael W. McConnell of the 10th Circuit, Emilio M. Garza of the 5th Circuit and J. Harvie Wilkinson III of the 4th Circuit. There have been rumors that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales may be nominated for O’Connor’s post, though some conservatives have expressed distaste for some of his stances on abortion.

O’Connor, Texas-born but Arizona-raised, was appointed to the court by President Ronald Reagan in 1981, and was often referred to as the “most powerful woman in America.”