WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois on Tuesday accused many of his fellow Senate Republicans of being “closed-minded” by refusing to consider President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Kirk, facing a tough re-election battle in his Democratic-leaning state, became the first Republican senator to meet with Garland since Obama nominated the centrist appellate judge and former prosecutor on March 16 to replace conservative Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on Feb. 13.

There is a need for “open-minded, rational, responsible people” to ensure the confirmation process works, Kirk told reporters before his private meeting with Garland, who already has met with some Senate Democrats.

Most of the 100-member Senate’s 54 Republicans have backed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s hard-line stance against confirming any Obama nominee or even meeting with Garland.

“I think when you just say, ‘I’m not going to meet with him at all’ - that’s too closed-minded,” added Kirk, a first-term senator who may be one of the most endangered Senate Republicans in the Nov. 8 elections.

Maine’s Susan Collins also took her fellow Senate Republicans to task for blocking Garland’s confirmation process.

Collins told WGAN radio, “Whether Republicans like him (Obama) or not, he is our president until inauguration day next January.” Collins said there seemed to be “no basis” for senators to refuse even to consider Garland.

McConnell has said the Senate should leave it to Obama’s successor, who will take office next January after November’s elections, to fill the vacancy. More than a dozen Senate Republicans have indicated a willingness to at least meet with Garland.

Last week, Kansas Republican Senator Jerry Moran, also running for re-election, was assailed by conservative groups after urging that the confirmation process proceed, even though he made clear he would not vote for Garland.

Meetings with senators are a standard part of the confirmation process, allowing lawmakers to get acquainted with nominees for a lifetime position on the Supreme Court. Republicans fear Garland could move the court to the left for the first time in decades.

The White House said the court’s split 4-4 ruling in an important labor case on Tuesday underscored the need to confirm Scalia’s replacement.

“With a Supreme Court that is not fully staffed, it makes it more likely that situations can arise across the country where there are different rulings in different circuit courts that are not resolved by the Supreme Court,” spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters aboard Air Force One as Obama flew to Atlanta.