OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson says he feels vindicated by the Supreme Court’s opinion on the federal health care law— mostly by its rejection of a provision to force states to expand Medicaid coverage.

Nelson, Nebraska’s only congressional Democrat, was lambasted by conservatives for providing the final voted in 2009 to advance the health care bill. He was accused of trading his vote for a deal to give Nebraska federal funding for Medicaid expansion, an agreement opponents dubbed the “Cornhusker Kickback.”

Nelson says he was trying to get federal funding for all states, because he disagreed with the measure’s threat to withhold states’ entire Medicaid allotment if they failed to expand Medicaid.

The high court disagreed with that provision, too, Nelson said, adding that “Sometimes, the irony of all ironies occurs.”