A Senate committee is beginning hearings for President Donald Trump's second nominee to the Supreme Court.

Judge Brett Kavanaugh, 53, has served for the past 12 years on the appeals court in Washington, DC, which is considered the second most important court in the country after the Supreme Court.

He has a solidly conservative record, including a dissenting opinion last year that would have denied immediate access to an abortion for an immigrant teenager in federal custody.

Mr Kavanaugh worked in key White House positions when George W Bush was president - and was a member of independent counsel Kenneth Starr's legal team that investigated President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s, leading to Mr Clinton's impeachment.

As a young lawyer, Mr Kavanaugh worked for Justice Anthony Kennedy, the man he would replace on the high court.

Mr Kennedy retired at the end of July. President Trump's first nominee, Justice Neil Gorsuch, also was a Kennedy law clerk the same year as Mr Kavanaugh.

The first day of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings will feature opening statements from senators and Mr Kavanaugh himself.

His remarks are not likely to be released in advance, but nominees often sing the praises of judicial independence. When he was sworn in as an appellate judge in 2006, Mr Kavanaugh called an independent judiciary "the crown jewel of our constitutional democracy".

Questioning will begin on Wednesday, and votes in committee and on the Senate floor could occur later in September. If all goes as Republicans plan, Mr Kavanaugh could be on the bench when the court begins its new term on October 1.

Many Democratic senators have already have announced their intention to vote against Mr Kavanaugh and many Republicans have likewise signalled their support.

A handful of Democrats seeking re-election in states President Trump carried in 2016 could vote for Mr Kavanaugh.

If no Democrat ultimately supports the nomination, the Republicans have no margin for error in a Senate they control by 50-49.

PA Media