Washington (CNN) Robert Wilkie, a Pentagon under secretary, was confirmed Monday by the Senate as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, giving the sprawling agency its first permanent leader in months.

The vote, which was 86-9, came the day before the President will address the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Kansas City.

Nominees to lead the VA are typically confirmed unanimously by the Senate. While Wilkie was confirmed overwhelmingly, the vote was the first time since the VA secretary became a Cabinet position that any senators voted against confirmation.

In a statement, President Donald Trump praised Wilkie as someone who has "dedicated his life to serving his country with honor and pride," and said Wilkie has displayed "great patriotism and a commitment to supporting and empowering America's armed forces and veterans."

The nine lawmakers who voted against Wilkie's nomination were mostly Democrats, joined by Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, who cast the lone dissenting vote against advancing Wilkie's nomination in committee. Sanders said then that he voted no because he was concerned that the Trump administration would privatize the VA's health care.

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