President-elect Joe Biden is poised to nominate Antony Blinken to serve as secretary of state, people familiar with the matter told CNN, elevating a longtime foreign policy adviser as Biden makes his first round of Cabinet announcements Tuesday.
Incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain said earlier Sunday that Biden intended to begin revealing members of his Cabinet Tuesday. Blinken is expected to be among the first nominations, people familiar with the matter said, with Biden intent on sending a signal that rebuilding America’s alliances is one of his top priorities.
Bloomberg was first to report that Biden intends to name Blinken.
Blinken served in the Obama administration as deputy secretary of state and principal deputy national security adviser. He also served as national security adviser to then-Vice President Biden.
In that time, he played a central role in much of the Obama administration’s foreign policy, including how to respond to Russia’s incursion into Crimea in 2014, the raid to kill Osama Bin Laden in 2011 and the fight against ISIS.
If confirmed by the Senate, Blinken will be tasked with repairing relationships with close allies across the globe, many of whom have bristled at President Donald Trump’s confrontational style and attempts to remake the United States’ international responsibilities at part of his “America First” campaign pledge. The longtime foreign policy adviser will also be asked to address a State Department dramatically altered under Trump, including staffing up an organization that was subject to a hiring freeze and combating a baseless view pushed by Trump that the agency was part of a “deep state” working against the Republican leader.
Courtesy-CNN
