WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court is vindication for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
McConnell made a risky bet more than a year ago that paid off big time for President Donald Trump and the Republican leader himself.
When Justice Antonin Scalia died in February 2016, McConnell decided immediately that the Senate would not fill the seat until the next president was elected.
He stuck to that stance without wavering, ignoring Democratic griping, misgivings from fellow Republicans, and predictions that GOP Senate candidates would pay a political price.
Now the Kentucky Republican can take credit for allowing Trump to put a young conservative on the court for life, even though it took changing Senate rules to do it.