WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren — whose name has been floated by progressives as a potential Supreme Court pick — blasted GOP lawmakers for planning to rough up whoever the president nominates to the high court.

“If Republican senators want to stand up to extremists running for president, they can start right now by standing up to extremists in the Senate,” said Warren, who has expressed no interest in a post on the court. “They can start by doing what they were elected to do right here in the Senate. They can start by doing their jobs.”

The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee is set to meet in executive session this morning to consider other federal judicial nominees, where one Republican said replacing deceased Justice Antonin Scalia will also be on the table.

U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the Senate’s second top Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also targeted Republicans for meeting “behind closed doors to unilaterally decide without any input from Democrats” to “simply refuse to consider a Supreme Court nominee this year.

“That is a dereliction of our constitutional duty — more importantly, it denies the American people the chance to participate in a public discussion about the nominee,” Leahy added, going after a comment by the Senate’s second top Republican, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, that President Obama’s nominee “will bear some resemblance to a pinata” if hearings are held.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said the committee members will have a chance to air their views early.

“If you want to hear a full-blown debate on this issue, I think we’ll probably have one before our committee” when the members meet for executive session to consider other federal judicial nominees and legislation, Grassley said.

Warren’s name has been floated as a potential election-year weapon. CNN’s Pamela Brown and Dan Berman wrote, “One name coming up in green rooms and bars might be the … biggest political bombshell: Elizabeth Warren. … It would wake up the Democratic base.”

Slate legal analyst Dahlia Lithwick suggested Obama could use the nomination to “mobilize and energize Democrats and inspire centrists and moderates. … Obama has said he wants a politician on the court. Perhaps the next Justice Warren could even be an Elizabeth.”

Obama has reportedly met with some potential nominees, all current federal judges: D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Chief Judge Merrick Garland; his colleague, Judge Sri Srinivasan; 9th Circuit Judge Paul Watford; 8th Circuit Judge Jane Kelly; and federal District Court Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Members of several civil rights groups are urging Obama to break a specific barrier: naming the court’s first black woman. Of those Obama has vetted, only Jackson meets that criterion.

Groups including the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus and the Black Women’s Roundtable have pressed Obama to consider Attorney General Loretta Lynch, California Attorney General Kamala Harris or even Brandeis University Professor Anita Hill — who accused Justice Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his confirmation hearing almost 25 years ago.

Both Lynch and Harris have removed themselves for consideration for the post.