McConnell's legacy: Conservative courts for a generation

Zoom out: Under McConnell's leadership, the Senate successfully confirmed three conservative Supreme Court justices and more than 200 lower-court judges, shifting the idealogical balance of the courts to the right.

• McConnell has long viewed transforming the federal judiciary by confirming young conservative judges as his legacy, as the courts carry significant weight in almost every area of policy.
• This has translated into landmark Supreme Court decisions overturning of Roe v. Wade, striking down affirmative action and favoring religious freedom over gay rights.
• With a 6-3 court, including three conservative justices in their 50s, there could be decades more conservative rulings ahead.

Flashback: Eight years ago, it was the liberals that appeared poised to establish a majority on the court. Then McConnell blocked Obama nominee Merrick Garland from ever having a hearing.

• McConnell argued at the time that the Senate and the presidency each belonged to different parties and the vacancy shouldn't be filled until the next president was inaugurated.
• McConnell said years later, in 2019, that the decision not to fill Justice Antonin Scalia's vacancy was the "most consequential thing I've ever done" and among his proudest moments.
• The vacancy was eventually filled by Trump, who appointed conservative Neil Gorsuch.

Go deeper: McConnell's exit haunted by poisonous relationship with Trump