WASHINGTON, March 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday nominated former Mississippi governor Ray Mabus to be Secretary of the Navy.

    Mabus, 60, a navy veteran who campaigned extensively for Obama last year, was governor of Mississippi from January 1988 to January 1992, according to a statement from the White House.

    He also served as U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996 under then President Bill Clinton.

    Obama also nominated J. Randolph Babbitt as administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), among several other nominations.

    These nominations need the approval of the Senate.

    Analysts said the president is playing catch-up as he tries to fill the top ranks of his administration more than two months after his swearing-in.