WASHINGTON — The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold confirmation hearings for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, the week of Oct. 12. That’s according to three people familiar with the schedule.
The panel plans to start the hearing with opening statements on Monday, Oct. 12, and continue with two days of questioning. The hearings are scheduled to end on Thursday, Oct. 15 with statements from outside groups.
Barrett is expected to make her first appearance Tuesday on Capitol Hill, where she will meet with McConnell; Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, the chair of the Judiciary Committee; and others. Graham said he hoped to have Barrett's nomination out of the committee by Oct. 26.
The people were granted anonymity to discuss the schedule before it is officially announced.
The hearings will come less than a month from the Nov. 3 presidential election. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not yet said whether the Senate will vote to confirm Barrett before the election, but Republicans are privately aiming for a late October confirmation vote.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Trump “could not have made a better decision” in nominating the appellate court judge.
Barrett would replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died Sept. 18.
Barrett would be the sixth justice on the nine-member court to be appointed by a Republican president, and the third of Trump’s first term in office.
On Saturday, Trump hailed Barrett as “a woman of remarkable intellect and character,” saying he had studied her record closely before making the pick.
“I looked and I studied, and you are very eminently qualified,” he said as Barrett stood next to him.
Republican senators are lining up for a swift confirmation of Barrett ahead of the Nov. 3 election, as they aim to lock in conservative gains in the federal judiciary before a potential transition of power. Trump, meanwhile, is hoping the nomination will serve to galvanize his supporters as he looks to fend off Democrat Joe Biden.
