Justin Walker, a protégé of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell whose nomination faced fierce opposition from Senate Democrats, was confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Thursday.

Walker’s nomination, by a 51-42 margin, was the second for the 38-year-old judge, confirmed last year to a seat on the Western District of Kentucky despite the American Bar Association calling him “not qualified.” Less than seven months later, President Donald Trump announced Walker as his pick for the D.C. Circuit seat, vacated by Judge Thomas Griffith’s retirement this upcoming September.