Federal Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland meets Thursday with Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin. Credit: Associated Press

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Washington — After meeting with federal Appeals Court Judge Merrick Garland on Thursday, Sen. Tammy Baldwin called the GOP's refusal to take up his Supreme Court nomination "outrageous" and said "the impact of this obstruction will be long felt."

The Wisconsin senator joined fellow Democrats in a concerted call on Republican colleagues to buck their party's leadership on the issue.

"It is disrespectful to the president, disrespectful to the Constitution and disrespectful to the American people who deserve a full and functioning Supreme Court, not an empty seat on the highest court in the land," Baldwin said of Republicans' refusal to hold a hearing on Garland.

She was one of several senators Garland visited Thursday.

All but two members of the Republican majority in the Senate are opposed to taking up the nomination, hoping that a GOP victory in November will make it possible for a Republican president to fill the seat next year.

Some Republican senators have agreed to meet with Garland anyway as a kind of courtesy. Among Republicans holding closed-door meetings with Garland this week were Charles Grassley of Iowa and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire on Wednesday, and Rob Portman of Ohio on Thursday. All are up for re-election in 2016. All reiterated their opposition to hearings or a vote — including Grassley, chairman of the Senate judiciary committee.

Portman called Garland "an impressive guy" Thursday, but said it was "for the sake of the court" and the "legitimacy of the candidate" that Republicans oppose confirming a new justice during a presidential campaign and a "very partisan year."

Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson, also facing re-election, has said he is willing to meet with Garland, while he remains opposed to taking up his nomination.

Johnson was unavailable for comment Thursday, his office said. A meeting between Johnson and Garland has not been scheduled.

In a Wisconsin poll taken by the Marquette University Law School in late March, 49% of registered voters said the Senate should hold hearings and vote on Garland, while 41% said senators should wait until 2017, after the election.

The partisan divide on the issue was huge: only 25% of Republicans voters said the Senate should act on the nomination, compared with 74% of Democratic voters.

Baldwin said Thursday that her meeting with Garland "strengthened my conviction that this is a very well qualified and experienced judge who deserves a hearing and a vote."

Garland has sat down with 35 senators, including nine Republicans.