Merrick Garland waited 293 days.

His nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court , which sat gathering dust in the Senate for that long, expired at noon Tuesday just as the 115th Congress was sworn in on the first day of its legislative session.

As he said he would on Feb. 13, the day Justice Antonin Scalia died, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) refused to consider a nominee for a vacancy that arose in an election year. And most Republicans , including Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, played along .

The tactic worked, and now President-elect Donald Trump will get to pick Scalias replacement. With help from his inner circle, hes already narrowing down his choices .

During a holiday celebration last month, President Barack Obama acknowledged Garland for his distinguished service as the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the nations second-most powerful federal court all but confirming that it was the end of the road for his nominee.