US President Donald Trump announces his US Supreme Court nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett (right), in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on Saturday US time. Barrett, if confirmed by the US Senate, will replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away on September 18. (See story on Page 7) Photo: VCG

'US President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett faced a sharply divided Senate Tuesday for her first question-and-answer session, with Republicans praising her faith and qualifications and Democrats set to bombard her over healthcare.

The acute political fights were previewed in Monday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, where lawmakers and Barrett gave opening statements under the shadow of the deadly coronavirus.

With just 22 days before the November 3 election, Democrats slammed the process as "reckless" and a "sham" amid a pandemic that has killed nearly 215,000 Americans.

Four days of hearings are unlikely to sway senators, barring any shock revelations, and Democrats - who control 47 Senate seats versus the Republicans' 53  - are largely powerless to block Barrett's confirmation.

Barrett, a 48-year-old conservative, was tapped in September by Trump to succeed liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died of cancer on September 18.

Republicans revel in the prospect of Barrett joining the bench, where conservatives now occupy five of nine seats and her confirmation could cement the court's rightward tilt for decades.

Democrats, meanwhile, were using the hearings to remind voters that healthcare for millions is at stake and to convince them that Trump has been deeply irresponsible in his pandemic response.

They have painted Barrett as a direct threat to the Affordable Care Act and voiced concern her appointment is being rammed through in time for the court to hear a challenge to the law on November 10.

The hearing, forced onto the calendar even as 10 million Americans already cast ballots as of Monday, has emerged as a political flashpoint.

While Republicans praised Barrett as a competent nominee grounded in family values, Senate Democrat Sheldon Whitehouse summarized his party's hostility to her confirmation, calling her a "judicial torpedo" fired at the health law that protects millions of Americans.

And Democratic vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris - speaking by videolink - slammed as "reckless" the decision to hold the hearing at all during a novel coronavirus pandemic.

AFP