The four-day confirmation hearing for Judge Barrett is underway in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Republicans are expected to push for a vote before Election Day as Democrats will try to stop her from turning the court sharply conservative for decades to come.

Committee chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., is giving his opening statement first, to be followed by Ranking Member Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif. Both appeared in-person and wore masks into the room.

Senators will follow with 10-minute opening statements before Judge Barrett is then introduced, sworn in and gives her opening statement.

Members were given the option of appearing and questioning the witness in person or remotely due to the coronavirus pandemic. Each senator makes their own determination.

The Capitol Hill press pool reported Barrett’s children, in attendance with her Monday, were running down the Capitol Hill hallways and into the hearing room with Barrett, who was wearing a black mask as she took her seat in the committee room.

ABC News’ Trish Turner

Judge Amy Coney Barrett has arrived to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the first day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearing.

The hearings are expected to last a few days as Barrett will face questions from both Republican and Democratic senators on the committee.

The U.S. Supreme Court begins a new term on Monday amidst a raging political battle over an open seat and a high-stakes push by President Donald Trump to have the justices adjudicate a possible contested election.

"Lurking in the background is the possibility this could become the most tumultuous and divisive term since the Supreme Court decided Bush v. Gore 20 years ago," said Irving Gornstein, executive director of the Supreme Court Institute at Georgetown University.

The court will convene as a panel of eight for the first time since the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as they await confirmation of Trump nominee Amy Coney Barrett, hearing oral arguments via teleconference that will be livestreamed to the public because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The justices face a fall docket of cases with implications for millions of American families and some of the nation's biggest businesses. They'll address matters of health insurance, use of force by police, military rape claims, religious freedom, grand jury secrecy, robocalls and faith-based foster care.

At the top of the list is a challenge to the Affordable Care Act brought by Texas and 18 Republican-led states backed by the Trump administration to completely invalidate the law, including protections for people with preexisting conditions. It will be argued Nov. 10 and decided by the end of June 2021.

"The stakes of this case have become only higher amidst the global pandemic. One estimate suggests there are 20 million people taking advantage of the exchanges," said University of Chicago law professor Jennifer Nou.

More on other key questions the court will consider this term can be found here.

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

Democratic nominee Joe Biden and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris have faced growing pressure from Republicans to say whether they'd try to 'pack' the Supreme Court if Democrats were to win the White House and control of Congress in November, after both candidates have repeatedly dodged questions on the issue.

"You will know my opinion on court-packing when the election is over," Biden has said. "The moment I answer that question, the headline in every one of your papers will be about that rather than focussing on what's happening now. This election has begun. There's never been a court appointment once the election has begun."

The idea of adding more justices -- or what critics call "packing" the court to secure a desired majority -- is not unprecedented but has taken on new life with the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the Senate confirmation hearing for Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Some Democrats -- including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer -- and progressive groups have threatened to try to add justices to counter the effort by President Donald Trump and Senate Republicans to get Barrett confirmed before Election Day.

So, can a party in power really "pack" the court?

-ABC News' Devin Dwyer

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., focused her remarks on the rhetoric around Barrett as a woman and mother, questioning why her Democratic colleagues aren’t more supportive of someone she called a “successful female legal superstar.”

“Given your track record, you would think that my colleagues would jump at the opportunity to support a successful female legal superstar, who is highly regarded by both her Democratic and Republican colleagues, and who is a working mom. But as today's increasingly paternalistic and frankly disrespectful arguments have shown, if they had it their way, only certain kinds of women would be allowed into this hearing room," Blackburn said.

“On that note, not so long ago in another hearing they scrutinized your commitment to your Catholic faith and tried to use that as a way to question your competency and your professionalism,” Blackburn said, referring to Judge Barrett’s confirmation hearing to a federal appeals court in 2017, though Barrett's faith has not yet been raised by Democrats in her Supreme Court nomination.

Blackburn, as several of her GOP colleagues before her had done, raised the Justice Kavanaugh hearings and deemed the sexual assault allegation against Kavanaugh another effort “to delay and obstruct legitimate constitutionally sound confirmation hearing.”

“Let's not forget it was the Democrats who took an axe to the process in 2018 when they dropped last-minute, unsubstantiated sexual assault allegations against Justice Kavanaugh. We still don't have the full story about their level and manner of coordination with activists and mainstream media outlets, but what we do know is that they turned that confirmation into a circus.”