WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, plans to meet with Chief Judge Merrick Garland, the president’s nominee to the Supreme Court, on Tuesday, bucking Republican party leaders who insist that the Senate should not consider a nominee until after the presidential election.

President Barack Obama nominated Garland on March 16 to fill the seat left vacant with the Feb. 12 death of Justice Antonin Scalia. Garland is currently chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, RKentucky, said in February that the American people should help decide who becomes the next Supreme Court justice with their votes for a new president in November, not “a lameduck president whose priorities and policies they just rejected in the most-recent national election.”

He stood by this position after Garland’s nomination, saying on March 16 that the American people may elect a president who would nominate Garland for Senate consideration, or they may elect one who would not.

“Either way, our view is this: Give the people a voice in the filling of this vacancy,” said McConnell in a prepared statement. “The next justice could fundamentally alter the direction of the Supreme Court and have a profound impact on our country, so of course the American people should have a say in the Court’s direction.”

In a written statement Friday, Collins said she was looking forward to an in-depth discussion with Garland, although the meeting would be no substitute for public hearings.

Collins has called for public hearings from the beginning, even though McConnell and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, have said there will be no Senate confirmation hearings until the next president names a nominee.

“It is the normal process that we go through when we vet judicial nominees, and in-depth hearings really allow you to probe deeply into a nominee’s qualifications, philosophies, intelligence and integrity,” she said. “Judge Garland has served for 19 years on the D.C. circuit, so he has an extensive record that needs review.”

Collins said she was encouraged by the number of her colleagues who, like her, are meeting one-on-one with Garland.

Before the Senate recess in March, there were only two Republican senators willing to meet with Garland – Collins and Mark Kirk of Illinois, who met with Garland on March 29. Now there are 10, she said, and she suspects there may be more in the future.

“These courtesy meetings are important, because it gives you a real sense of the individual and an opportunity to learn more about his judicial philosophy and respect for the rule of law and fidelity to the Constitution,” she said.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.