Kavanaugh, 53, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, is a favorite of the conservative legal establishment because of his long record on issues ranging from the separation of powers and executive privilege to abortion, immigration and gun rights.

Still, Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri, a member of the Republican leadership, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday that the Senate "can confirm any of the four names being mentioned". Kavanaugh has an extensive paper trail that could potentially enable Democrats to stretch the confirmation beyond the 2018 midterm election. Some, like Democratic SEn. The appellate court judge in Washington has a "slight" advantage, John Malcolm of the Heritage Foundation, who helped shape Trump's list of possible justices, said Sunday on Fox News.

Democratic Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama has replaced Republican Sen.

"I suspect that (Democrats) will really get vicious if Barrett is chosen", he said. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Joe Donnelly of IN and Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Liberal advocacy groups are challenging Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to keep the Democrats united.

Current position: Barrett was confirmed by the Senate to a lifetime appointment on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals this past October. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of ME were widely identified as the two lawmakers most likely to break with their party, given both their support of abortion rights, and the view that Kennedy's replacement had potential to be more conservative than he was in this regard.

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Before a full vote on the chamber floor, the prospective justice will be grilled by the Senate Judiciary Committee in hearings that can go on for days. The two have supported access to abortion services. At the top of that list is abortion. That decision was later overturned.

Kennedy's replacement also could be more willing to allow states to carry out executions and could support undoing earlier court holdings in the areas of racial discrimination in housing and the workplace. Kennedy provided a decisive vote in 2015 on an important fair housing case. He has another potential advantage: he serves with Judge Maryanne Trump Barry - the president's sister - on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. He followed a one-year fellowship in the office of U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth Starr with a clerkship for Justice Anthony Kennedy. He regularly teaches law school classes, including at Harvard. Judge Kavanaugh is relatively young, meaning he could serve for decades to come. And he also led the investigation into the mysterious suicide of Clinton's deputy White House counsel, Vince Foster. Lee was one of seven candidates Trump interviewed for the job. The New York Times reports she says she would like to see the scope of abortion rights changed.

In his time on the bench, Judge Kavanaugh's opinions have consistently adhered to our founding principles that government exists to protect the God-given rights of the people and that the Constitution exists to prevent government from infringing on the rights it is entrusted to defend.

Democrats in the past also have pointed to Kavanaugh's work for Bush during the recount fight in the pivotal state of Florida in the 2000 presidential election, a controversy that was resolved only after the conservative-majority Supreme Court sided with Bush over Democratic candidate Al Gore, settling the election outcome.

"President Trump is now a subject of an ongoing criminal investigation, and any nomination of a Supreme Court justice while that investigation continues is unacceptable because of the clear conflict of interest inherent in the President installing someone who could be the deciding vote on a number of potential issues from that investigation that could come before the Court", Booker added.