Despite incessant obstruction and opposition from Democrats, and sometimes even a few Republicans, Senate GOP leadership have been working steadily to confirm President Donald Trump's nominees to various posts throughout his administration.

On Wednesday, by a vote of 52-45, the Senate confirmed Hung Cao, a retired U.S. Navy captain from Virginia, to serve as under secretary of the U.S. Navy, according to Breitbart.

Cao, a former Special Operations Officer and unsuccessful Republican candidate for Congress, was staunchly opposed by all Senate Democrats, as well as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), for the high-ranking position overseeing the nation's naval service.

Nominated in February

In February, President Trump announced his nomination of Cao to the role, someone he heralded as "the embodiment of the American Dream."

"As a refugee to our Great Nation, Hung worked tirelessly to make proud the Country that gave his family a home," the president said. "He went to our amazing United States Naval Academy, and later earned his Master’s Degree in Physics. Hung served in combat as a Special Operations Officer for twenty five years."

"With Hung’s experience both in combat, and in the Pentagon, he will get the job done," Trump added. Cao shared a screenshot of that announcement at the time and added, "Thank you, Mr. President. It’s time to get to work."

Opposed by Democrats, Murkowski

The Washington Examiner reported that, following Wednesday's confirmation vote, Cao is now the second-ranked civilian leader in the U.S. Navy and serves directly beneath Navy Secretary John Phelan.

Cao's nomination was addressed alone by senators instead of as part of a larger group of more than 100 nominees under the new fast-track rules recently implemented by Senate Republican leadership, following an objection from Sen. Murkowski.

Asked about her oppositional stance alongside Democrats, the nominally Republican senator from Alaska declined to offer up any specifics and merely stated, "I was not comfortable offering my support based upon my review of his background and his qualifications."

Refugee-turned-Navy veteran

According to Stars and Stripes, Cao and his family legally immigrated to the U.S. as refugees from Vietnam by way of West Africa in 1975, and he was determined to serve in the U.S. military as a child following positive interactions with U.S. Marines at an American embassy.

He ultimately graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served for 25 years, retiring at the rank of captain. During his service, Cao was deployed to combat zones in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia, where he served as a special operations officer in explosive ordnance disposal and salvage diving, amid assignments at the Pentagon to work on the Navy's annual budget requests.

Following his military service, Cao unsuccessfully ran for a Congressional seat in Virginia in 2022, and for a U.S. Senate seat in 2024, but lost to incumbent Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA).

He sparked controversy during a debate with Kaine when he called out a Navy recruiting effort that employed a cross-dressing petty officer, and declared, "When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want. What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are going to rip out their own guts, eat them, and ask for seconds. Those are young men and women that are going to win wars."

Cao was also highly critical of the Navy's COVID-19 vaccine mandate under former President Joe Biden, and, like the president who nominated him, advocated for a strict crackdown on illegal immigration and the nation's once-porous borders.