Barrett to sit with McConnell and other GOP senators in back-to-back meetings

President TrumpDONALD JOHN TRUMPCensus Bureau intends to wrap up count on Oct. 5 despite judge's orderTop House Republican calls for probe of source of NYT Trump tax documents New Yorkers report receiving ballots with wrong name, voter addressesMORE's Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett, has a packed schedule on Capitol Hill Tuesday, when she will meet with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and seven other key Senate Republicans in back-to-back sessions.Barrett’s first meeting will be with McConnell at 10 a.m., and there will be a stakeout afterward for reporters in the Senate’s wood-paneled Mansfield Room. 

She will then meet at 11 a.m. with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who is also a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee. 

The 48-year-old 7th Circuit Court judge and former law professor will then break for lunch before a 1 p.m. meeting with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who is also a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that will conduct her confirmation hearings. Grassley told reporters Monday he is “very comfortable” with the accelerated confirmation schedule for Barrett, whom Republicans want to seat on the court by Election Day in case the results of the presidential election are litigated all the way to the high court. 

At 2 p.m. Barrett will meet with Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), an outspoken conservative on the Judiciary Committee, who has praised her credentials as “impeccable” and is already accusing Democrats of gearing up to “destroy her reputation for political gain.”

At 3 p.m. Barrett will meet with Senate Majority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who was an early proponent of seating her on the court before Election Day and who says there’s overwhelming support within the Senate GOP conference to confirm Trump’s pick.