WASHINGTON — A Republican senator’s remarks expressing support for Senate consideration of President Supreme Court pick have angered conservatives and underscored the passion the issue stirs in Republican and Democratic activists.

The comments by Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran put him at odds with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other Republican leaders, who have said the chamber won’t hold hearings or a vote on the nominee. Only a handful of Senate Republicans have diverged from that stance. Moran’s statements prompted a leader of one conservative group to warn that her organization was preparing an advertising campaign “to remind Senator Moran that he represents the people of Kansas and neither President Obama nor the Democratic Party.” Others didn’t rule out that the comments might prompt a conservative to challenge Moran in the state’s primary.

Obama nominated federal judge Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court vacancy on March 16.

The fuss over Moran’s comments came as the White House announced that Garland will have his first courtesy meeting next week with a Republican senator, Mark Kirk of Illinois.

Kirk faces a difficult re-election in November in Democratic-leaning Illinois. Until Moran’s remarks, Kirk was the only Republican senator to call for a Senate vote on Obama’s pick and one of two – with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine – to favor Senate Judiciary Committee hearings.

Moran is so far unopposed in the Aug. 2 Republican Senate primary.

The Garden City Telegram reported that on the same day, Moran told a small gathering in Cimarron, Kansas, “I would rather have you (constituents) complaining to me that I voted wrong … than saying I’m not doing my job.”