President Barack Obama on Tuesday received a widely-anticipated shot in the arm when the Minnesota Supreme Court declared Al Franken, the former “Saturday Night Live” comedy star, the winner of last November’s election for the state’s Senate seat.

Mr Franken’s victory, which follows eight months of recounts and legal appeals by Norm Coleman, the defeated Republican senator, brings the formal Democratic number of seats in the US Senate to the magic threshold of 60 – the level at which they can shut off opposition filibuster.