November 23, 2020 8:07:38 am
US Under Secretary of State Anthony Blinken attends a press conference on the 2016 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom at the US Department of State on August 10, 2016 in Washington, DC. Photographer: Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images
President-elect Joe Biden intends to appoint his longtime adviser, Antony Blinken, as secretary of state, according to three people familiar with the matter, with the intention of assembling his cabinet even before Donald Trump acknowledges defeat. .
Additionally, Jake Sullivan, formerly one of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides, is likely to be named Biden’s national security adviser, according to two people familiar with the matter. An announcement is expected Tuesday, the people said.
Biden’s incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain said Sunday that the president-elect would make his initial cabinet announcements on Tuesday, but declined to specify which positions would be filled first. People familiar with Biden’s picks asked not to be identified because he has not yet made the announcements.
Both Sullivan, 43, and Blinken, 58, served as Biden’s national security adviser when he was vice president.
The state is considered one of the most prestigious cabinet positions. The secretary of state is the nation’s top diplomat and conducts meetings with foreign leaders around the world.
The president’s national security adviser is one of the most important and powerful positions in the White House, and he leads a team of dozens of experts from the government’s military, diplomatic and intelligence agencies that develop the foreign and military policy of States. United.
Blinken and Sullivan did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Biden declined to comment.
Foreign Relations
Blinken has been considered one of the leading candidates to head the State Department. After serving as the vice president’s national security adviser, he was promoted to undersecretary of state during the presidency of Barack Obama.
When Biden was a senator, Blinken served as a personnel director on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee before leaving to serve on Biden’s presidential campaign in 2008. Blinken graduated from Harvard and Columbia Law School.
After the Obama administration, Blinken co-founded WestExec Advisors, a political strategy firm, with a senior Obama-era Pentagon official, Michele Flournoy.
Blinken’s selection as America’s top diplomat signals Biden’s goal of placing experienced individuals in key cabinet positions.
Biden met on November 17 with defense and intelligence experts, including Blinken and others who worked for Obama when Biden was vice president. He brought them together because the Trump administration has prevented him from receiving the intelligence reports traditionally given to the president-elect.
“In my opinion, we have suffered a lot of damage over the last four years. We need to rebuild our institutions and my workforce to reflect the full strength and diversity of our country, ”Biden said at the briefing. “We have to focus on preparing for what is to come.”
.
