Amy Coney Barrett: Trump US Supreme Court pick faces fresh questioning

Donald Trump’s nominee for the US Supreme Court is facing more tough questions in a Senate hearing, a day after sidestepping some key issues.

Amy Coney Barrett has insisted she will decide cases as they arrive and not apply a personal agenda.

Democrats on Tuesday failed to draw her on issues such as abortion, healthcare and LGBTQ rights.

Republicans are pressing to confirm her for the lifelong post before the 3 November election.

Judge Barrett is the proposed replacement for liberal Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who died last month aged 87.

Her confirmation would give the nine-member court a 6-3 conservative majority, swinging the ideological balance of the court for potentially decades to come.

Wednesday is the third day of the hearing, being conducted by the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the second in which Judge Barrett has faced questions from senators.

What has happened so far on Wednesday?

Lindsey Graham, Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was happy to highlight Judge Barrett’s views, saying: “This is the first time in American history that we’ve nominated a woman who is unashamedly pro-life and embraces her faith without apology.”

Judge Barrett responded to one question by saying the 1973 Roe vs Wade ruling that recognised a woman’s constitutional right to abortion did not constitute a “super-precedent” that cannot be revisited.