We have some new confirmations to report.

As of Tuesday, eight Pentagon appointees were put through.

The big confirmation was that of Richard V. Spencer, and investment banker, as Navy secretary.

Spencer is a former Marine Corps pilot, who sat for his confirmation hearing in July.

Noting others who were confirmed:

In addition to Spencer, those confirmed Tuesday are Matthew Donovan as Air Force undersecretary; Ryan McCarthy as Army undersecretary; Ellen Lord, as undersecretary of Defense for acquisition, technology and logistics; Lucian Niemeyer as assistant secretary of Defense for energy, installations and environment; Robert Hood as assistant secretary of Defense for legislative affairs; Robert Daigle as director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation; and Elaine McCusker as a principal deputy undersecretary of Defense, comptroller.

With 15 Pentagon confirmations out of the way, the next position to fill is that of Army secretary.

John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee commented on the week’s confirmations:

“The Senate has been paralyzed by politics and partisanship, and it is unfortunate that it took so long to approve these qualified nominees for critical positions,” he said in a statement. “I hope the White House will expeditiously send the Senate nominations for the many positions that remain unfilled at the Department of Defense.

“At a time when the threats to our country continue to grow, neither the White House nor the Senate can afford to delay any further in giving Secretary [James] Mattis the leadership team he needs to defend our national security.”

Absolutely.