The US Senate was set to start confirmation hearings yesterday for Judge Amy Coney Barrett, nominated to the Supreme Court by President Donald Trump despite opposition from the Democrats, who appear largely powerless to block the move before the November 3 election. The 48-year-old conservative law professor was named by the Republican president on September 26 to succeed women's rights champion and liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died of cancer eight days earlier at the age of 87. By law, the Republican-led Senate has to approve the nomination to the country's highest court, where conservatives currently occupy five of the nine seats.