It’s official. Here’s the New York Times:
Judge Neil M. Gorsuch was confirmed by the Senate on Friday to become the 113th justice of the Supreme Court, capping a political brawl that lasted for more than a year and tested constitutional norms inside the Capitol’s fraying upper chamber.
The development was a signal triumph for President Trump, whose campaign last year rested in large part on his pledge to appoint another committed conservative to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. However rocky the first months of his administration may have been, Mr. Trump now has a lasting legacy: Judge Gorsuch, 49, could serve on the court for 30 years or more.
“Signal triumph” is right. One might even say yuuuge triumph. Obviously enormous credit goes to Mitch McConnell, who properly stood firm against the weight of elite opinion to block Merrick Garland and then expertly executed the nuclear option to guarantee Gorsuch’s confirmation. It’s important to state, however, that McConnell’s job would have been far more difficult — if not impossible — had Trump not made such an excellent Supreme Court pick.
Trump delivered on a campaign promise that some of us (me included, honestly) were skeptical he’d keep, and he delivered with an even better judicial choice than we could reasonably expect. I know it’s a cliché to say, “This is why Trump won,” but given the intensity of feeling especially in the Evangelical community over the Supreme Court, I think it’s safe to say that the importance of this very pick was one reason why Trump won. He delivered. He deserves the credit. This is a good day for Trump, for the GOP, and — most importantly — for the Constitution.