WASHINGTON — The Senate on Monday approved former Mississippi Gov. Raymond Mabus Jr. as the next secretary of the Navy.

Mabus replaces Donald Winter, who stepped down in March. Mabus was governor from 1988 to 1992 and served as former President Bill Clinton’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, but in recent years has worked in the private sector.

He served in the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps and later joined the Navy as a surface warfare officer.

The Senate also approved Robert Work to be undersecretary of the Navy. Work is a retired Marine colonel and a well-known author who focuses on naval issues.