The US Senate today confirmed the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch as the next judge to the Supreme Court after Republicans took the "nuclear" option of changing Senate rules to confirm him.
The Republican majority Senate voted 54-45 in favour of Gorsuch, giving President Donald Trump a major political victory.
Gorsuch is expected to be sworn in as early as Monday.
"Today's confirmation of Judge Gorsuch represents another promise President Trump has fulfilled to the American people," said Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as the Republicans celebrated their first major political victory in weeks.
"I want to congratulate Judge Neil Gorsuch on his confirmation as Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. And I commend President Trump on having his nominee confirmed," said House Speaker Paul Ryan.
"As we saw during his confirmation hearings, Judge Gorsuch is a thoughtful jurist who has the utmost respect for the rule of law.The Court-and the country-will benefit from his experience and his character. Justice Scalia's seat will now be filled by a judge committed to our Constitution and first principles," Ryan said.
Gorsuch yesterday failed to get 60 votes required to get a simple majority confirmation vote in the 100-seat Senate. Forty-four Democratic Senators said they oppose the nomination of Gorsuch.
The Democratic blocking tactic, known as a filibuster, has never until now been successfully employed to block a Supreme Court nominee in the American history.
However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell deployed the so-called "nuclear-option" to overcome the filibuster move of the Democrats.
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