When U.S. District Judge Justin Walker of the Western District of Kentucky appears for his second hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, it'll be a bit different than the first time around.

Because of the health concerns raised by the COVID-19 pandemic, senators will meet in a larger hearing room than normal and have the option to appear through videoconference or submit written questions. Those changes, and Walker being the first judicial nomination considered during the pandemic, demonstrate just how committed Senate Republicans are to their goal of confirming judges during the Trump administration.

"My motto for the year is, leave no vacancy behind. That hasn't changed," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt earlier this year. "The pandemic will not prevent us from achieving that goal."

At the heart of an already unusual hearing is a contested nominee. Walker, a former clerk of then-appellate Judge Brett Kavanaugh and a protege of McConnell, is up for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, often referred to as the second-most important federal appeals court in the country after the U.S. Supreme Court.

McConnell and other conservatives have applauded Walker's record, describing him as a bright, young legal mind and a jurist who will rule based on the original meaning of the Constitution.

Democrats are unlikely to overcome Republicans' majority in the Senate to block the nomination, which would make Walker the third Trump-appointed judge to join the D.C. Circuit. The Senate confirmed him last year 50-41 for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, despite a "not qualified" rating from the American Bar Association over his lack of trial experience.

Those odds haven't stopped left-leaning judicial and civil rights groups from fiercely opposing the nomination. Both the groups and Senate Democrats have come out against holding the hearing during the pandemic, arguing that lawmakers should dedicate their time and energy to COVID-19-related items.

In a letter to McConnell and Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham on Tuesday, 40 civil rights and judicial groups called for a delay of Walker's nomination hearing, writing: "It is of critical importance that the Senate focus its attention on vulnerable communities and properly address the health care and economic crisis. Prioritizing judicial nominations as if there were no pandemic and ignoring the business that is most urgent for relief and recovery would be irresponsible."

Conservatives have rejected that criticism, saying it's fair game for the Senate GOP to keep confirming judges. "Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Lindsey Graham is absolutely right to move the Walker nomination forward by holding a hearing tomorrow," Carrie Severino, president of the conservative Judicial Crisis Network, tweeted Wednesday. "While the Senate has filled a record number of vacancies since President Trump took office, there is still more work to be done."

Groups have further criticized Walker over his record on health care, and more specifically his opposition to the Supreme Court's ruling upholding the Affordable Care Act. That 2012 decision came down when Walker was clerking for Justice Anthony Kennedy.

"The greatest words you could hear from Justice Kennedy are, 'You're hired,'" Walker said at his investiture ceremony earlier this year. "And the worst words are, 'The chief justice thinks this might be a tax.'"

In an open letter to the Senate posted Wednesday, 53 groups said they are "deeply dismayed" by lawmakers prioritizing the nominations of Walker and Cory Wilson, tapped for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. "At a time of a worldwide pandemic, now is not the time for the Senate to prioritize the confirmation of judges who are committed to taking away health insurance through the courts for millions," the letter reads, criticizing the nominees' stance on the Affordable Care Act.

Members of the public are generally permitted to attend nomination hearings, but cannot for Walker's hearing because Senate office buildings are currently closed to the public due to the pandemic.

That means those who want to protest Walker may have to do so virtually. Several groups, including Alliance for Justice and People for the American Way, plan to host a "virtual rally" after Walker's hearing to oppose the nomination.

Another potential complication for Walker's nomination are questions about the resignation of the federal judge whose seat he would fill. Judge Thomas Griffith, nominated by President George W. Bush in 2005, revealed earlier this year that he would resign from the bench in September. The New York Times later reported that McConnell has pushed federal judges to retire while Republicans still have control over judicial nominees, sparking backlash from left-leaning judicial groups.

In a statement  Wednesday, first reported on by NPR, Griffith denied facing any political pressure from McConnell in choosing to step down from the bench, a decision he said he made in June 2019.

Griffith said his wife was diagnosed with a "debilitating chronic illness" 11 years ago and in recent years, "it became clear that I would not be able to carry on my duties as a judge while still fulfilling my paramount responsibility to care for her." He said her health was "the sole reason" for his retirement, and the decision "was driven entirely by personal concerns and involved no discussions with the White House or the Senate."

Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit said in an order May 1 that he is asking Chief Justice John Roberts to tap another circuit's judicial conference to handle the matter, after the left-leaning group Demand Justice filed a complaint with the circuit over the circumstances of Griffith's retirement citing the Times's reporting.

Srinivasan said the group did not submit additional information to verify the complaint after the court asked for it. However, he cited judicial rules that allow a chief judge to begin a formal complaint for "high visibility situations … in order to assure the public that the allegations have not been ignored."

"Here, the questions posited by the organization in the correspondence about the possibility of judicial misconduct have been reported in various major news outlets," Srinivasan wrote.

Walker will turn 38 this month, meaning he could spend decades on the appeals court.

Conservatives are generally dismissive of the complaint: Severino on Tuesday said Democrats are "making hay out of a desperate and laughable complaint."

But it's certain to come up as a line of questioning during Walker's hearing Tuesday, along with an opinion the federal judge recently delivered in favor of a Kentucky church that wanted to hold drive-in Easter Sunday services during the pandemic that elicited both liberal and conservative criticism.

"On Holy Thursday, an American mayor criminalized the communal celebration of Easter. That sentence is one that this Court never expected to see outside the pages of a dystopian novel, or perhaps the pages of The Onion," Walker wrote in opinion issued shortly after the White House announced his nomination. "But two days ago, citing the need for social distancing during the current pandemic, Louisville's Mayor Greg Fischer ordered Christians not to attend Sunday services, even if they remained in their cars to worship—and even though it's Easter. The mayor's decision is stunning."

Read more: