Donald Trump's US Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, will begin meeting with senators as Republicans push on with a rapid Senate confirmation over the objections of Democrats.
Barrett would meet Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham on Tuesday afternoon at the US Capitol, Graham's office said on Monday.
She will meet with several other committee Republicans earlier in the day.
Senator Kamala Harris, the Democratic vice presidential candidate who is also a member of the Judiciary Committee, said on Monday she expected to meet Barrett at some point.
"I'm sure that's going to happen, we'll see how it works out. ... I haven't made a plan one way or another," she told reporters in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Trump on Saturday announced Barrett, 48, as his selection to succeed liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died on September 18 aged 87.
Barrett, who would be the fifth woman to serve on the high court, said she would be a justice in the mold of the late staunch conservative Antonin Scalia.
Her confirmation by the Senate would result in a 6-3 conservative majority on the court.
Republicans hold a 53-47 advantage in the Senate and are aiming to hold a vote before the November 3 election, in accordance with Trump's wishes.
Trump, who is running for a second term against Democrat Joe Biden, has said he wants nine justices on the court so it will have a full complement to tackle any election-related legal issues and possibly decide the outcome in his favour.
The only time in US history the Supreme Court has had to resolve a presidential election was in 2000.
Barrett's meetings with senators are taking place ahead of a multiday confirmation hearing scheduled to begin on October 12, when she will face questions about her judicial philosophy and approach to the law.
Graham told Fox News on Sunday the panel would likely vote on the nomination on October 22, setting up a final vote on the Senate floor by the end of the month.
Democrats object to Republicans pushing through the nomination so close to the election, saying that the winner of the contest should get to pick the nominee.
Trump's nomination of Barrett is the first time since 1956 that a US president has moved to fill a Supreme Court vacancy so close to an election.
Australian Associated Press
