Supreme Court of the United States

Liberal congressional Democrats unveiled a proposal Thursday to expand the number of seats on the Supreme Court from nine to 13 — a move Republicans have blasted as "court-packing" and which has almost no chance of being voted on after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she "has no plans to bring it to the floor."

"We are not packing the Supreme Court, we are unpacking it," Jerrold Nadler said at a news conference in front of the Supreme Court.

The Senate has voted 52-48 to confirm President Donald Trump's nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court on Monday, just days before the US election on November 3.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has promised that Supreme Court Justice nominee Amy Coney Barrett will receive a vote in the "weeks ahead, following the work of the Judiciary Committee."

Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham confirmed that hearings would start on October 12 with opening statements from Barrett herself and members of the Judiciary Committee, followed by questions from the committee and testimony from legal experts and Barrett's associates.

"I expect the nominee will be challenged and that's appropriate to challenge the nominee. If they treat Judge Barrett like they did Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh it's going to blow up in their face big time," so Graham on Fox News Saturday.

Amy Coney Barrett, a conservative federal appeals court judge, has been nominated as Supreme Court justice to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. President Donald Trump announced her nomination on Saturday, calling her a woman of "towering intellect" and "one of our nation's most brilliant and gifted legal minds" who would rule "based solely on the fair reading of the law."

"A judge must apply the law as written. Judges are not policy makers," Barrett then said. "If confirmed, I would not assume that role for the sake of those in my own circle, and certainly not for my own sake, I would assume this role to serve you."

US President Donald Trump has picked the conservative judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the vacancy at the Supreme Court on Friday.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said she would not support Trump's move to quickly fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court opened by Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death.

Murkowski said in a statement: "I did not support taking up a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Scalia. We are now even closer to the 2020 election – less than two months out – and I believe the same standard must apply."

On Saturday, Senator Susan Collins of Maine voiced similar concerns. Collins is locked in a tight re-election battle, while Murkowski’s current term extends two more years.

Hundreds of people have gathered outside the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. on Friday night to mourn the death of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) pledged Friday to bring President Trump's Supreme Court nominee replacing the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to a Senate vote.

"President Trump's nominee will receive a vote on the floor of the United States Senate," so McConnell.

Senate Majority Whip John Thune is backing McConnell, saying: "I believe Americans sent a Republican president and a Republican Senate to Washington to ensure we have an impartial judiciary that upholds the Constitution and the rule of law. We will fulfil our obligation to them."

CNN reports that "GOP aides are skeptical that there is enough time to confirm a nominee before November 3" as the process usually takes around two to three months but "that process could be sped up if McConnell, who controls the majority of the chamber, has the votes to confirm a replacement."