(Bloomberg) -- Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee proposed a Wednesday hearing on a sexual assault allegation against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, a day earlier than his accuser is seeking, as both sides stepped up pressure over the terms of what would be explosive testimony.

Committee Republicans rejected other conditions sought by accuser Christine Blasey Ford, including her request to call other witnesses in addition to her and Kavanaugh, according to a GOP aide to the panel. The aide didn’t know if there had been a formal response by late Friday afternoon from Ford’s lawyers, who didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Ford would testify first, and questioning would be conducted by lawyers who work for the committee, the aide said. Ford’s lawyers had said they wanted senators to conduct the questioning to avoid a trial-like setting, and that she wanted Kavanaugh to testify first.

Kavanaugh’s confirmation hangs in the balance. With Nov. 6 elections approaching that will determine control of the House and Senate, Republicans are under intense pressure to consider the allegation in a way that doesn’t turn women and independents away from the party while moving the nomination forward as quickly as possible, as President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders want.

Republicans appear poised to seek a confirmation vote as early as next week if an agreement isn’t reached for Ford’s testimony.

Trump, in a tweet Friday morning, cast doubt on Ford’s allegations. “I have no doubt that, if the attack on Dr. Ford was as bad as she says, charges would have been immediately filed with local Law Enforcement Authorities by either her or her loving parents,” Trump wrote. “I ask that she bring those filings forward so that we can learn date, time, and place!”

Moderate GOP Senator Susan Collins of Maine, whose vote is critical to Kavanaugh’s confirmation in a chamber controlled by Republicans 51-49, said Friday she was "appalled" by Trump’s tweet, the Portland Press Herald reported.

"We know allegations of sexual assault are one of the most unreported crimes that exist," Collins said at an event in Portland, the newspaper said.

Ford says Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her at a Maryland house party in the early 1980s when both were high school students. Kavanaugh denies any attack occurred, and he said in a letter Thursday to committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, that he was prepared to come before the panel on Monday to "clear my name" of the allegation.

"I will be there," Kavanaugh wrote.

Kavanaugh’s Classmate

Ford’s attorney, Debra Katz, said Ford couldn’t appear on Monday as Grassley had planned and proposed testifying on Thursday instead, according to another Senate aide familiar with the negotiations. The aide said Katz told the committee by telephone that Ford didn’t want Kavanaugh in the room when she testified.

She also asked that Mark Judge, a classmate of Kavanaugh’s who Ford says was present when the alleged attack occurred more than 30 years ago, be called to testify, along with other possible witnesses, according to the aide.

Democrats have demanded a delay in the hearing to allow time for the FBI to investigate Ford’s claim. Trump has said he won’t ask the FBI to reopen its background probe of Kavanaugh.

Katz wrote that Ford "wishes to testify, provided that we can agree on terms that are fair and which ensure her safety." Ford has received death threats and has moved her family out of their home, the lawyer said.

Ford says that Kavanaugh was drunk at a house party in about 1982, and that he pulled her into a bedroom then pinned her down on a bed, tried to remove her clothes and put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. She said she was able to escape, but the Washington Post reported that she described the episode to a therapist in 2013 as a "rape attempt."

--With assistance from Billy House.

To contact the reporters on this story: Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net;Arit John in Washington at ajohn34@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Justin Blum

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