The US Senate Judiciary Committee will begin a four-day confirmation hearing later today (12 October) for President Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

A full Senate vote on her appointment will take place by the end of the month. Her nomination followed the death of liberal judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Conservative majority

In a copy of her prepared remarks released on Sunday (11 October), Barrett said that as a judge she seeks to “reach the result required by the law, whatever my own preferences might be”.

“When I write an opinion resolving a case, I read every word from the perspective of the losing party. I ask myself how would I view the decision if one of my children was the party I was ruling against,” she wrote.

Barrett’s appointment would be seen as creating a 6-3 conservative majority on the court, leading to fears among Democrats about her position on potential rulings on abortion rights, gun laws and voting restrictions.

Obamacare case

The party’s Senate leader Chuck Schumer has said Barrett should, if confirmed, step aside from a case due before the Supreme Court next month, in which Trump and Republican-led states are seeking to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA) healthcare law, also known as Obamacare.

He also says she should not be involved in any cases arising from the presidential election in November.

Republicans, however, have a majority in the Senata, meaning her nomination is likely to be approved.