Hung Cao, the former Virginia Republican Senate nominee who lost to Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) last year, was confirmed Wednesday as undersecretary of the Navy despite nominal GOP opposition.

The Senate voted mostly along party lines, 52-45, for Cao to serve as the second-ranked civilian position directly under Navy Secretary John Phelan. Kaine joined with Democrats in voting against his former political foe.

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Centrist Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) was the lone Republican to vote against Cao, opposition that required the chamber to consider him as a stand-alone rather than group him with a tranche of 108 nominees under new rules to fast-track confirmations for President Donald Trump. The recent rule change allows any one GOP senator the ability to nix individuals from confirmation blocs as part of Senate Majority Leader John Thune’s pledge to root out “bad apple” nominees.

“I was not comfortable offering my support based upon my review of his background and his qualifications,” Murkowski told the Washington Examiner. She did not elaborate on her concerns.

Cao is a 25-year Navy veteran who ran a Trump-backed Senate campaign last year and lost to Kaine by roughly 8 points. On the campaign trail, Cao often cited similar talking points to Trump and staked out conservative policy positions, particularly on combating illegal immigration.

TIM KAINE DEFEATS TRUMP-BACKED HUNG CAO TO WIN REELECTION IN VIRGINIA SENATE RACE

During a debate last year with Kaine, Cao spoke of the need for the military to recruit “alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them, and ask for seconds.” He also unsuccessfully ran for a House seat in Virginia in 2022 after retiring from the Navy as a captain.

“With Hung’s experience both in combat, and in the Pentagon, he will get the job done,” Trump posted to Truth Social when he announced the nomination in February.

David Sivak contributed to this report.