Friday, 29 Mar 2024

US Senate expected to confirm Antony Blinken as secretary of state

WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – The US Senate is expected to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee for secretary of state, veteran diplomat Antony Blinken, on Tuesday (Jan 26), after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted strongly in favour of his appointment.

After the 15-3 vote by the committee, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the full Senate would vote on Mr Blinken at noon Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday (12am Wednesday Singapore time).

Although the committee’s three ” no” votes came from Republicans, Mr Blinken is expected to be confirmed with strong bipartisan support.

Many lawmakers, including some Republicans, said they wanted President Biden’s national security team to be in place as quickly as possible.

“The world is on fire right now, with pressing crises in every region and hemisphere,” said Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the foreign relations panel, who is due to become its chairman.

At the moment, Mr Daniel Smith, former director of the Foreign Service Institute, is serving as acting secretary of state.

Mr Blinken is a longtime Biden confidant who has been confirmed by the US Senate before, most recently to serve as No. 2 at the State Department during former Democratic president Barack Obama’s administration, when Mr Biden was vice-president.

The 100-member Senate is divided 50-50 but controlled by Mr Biden’s fellow Democrats because Vice-President Kamala Harris can break any tie. Mr Blinken needs only a simple majority to be confirmed.

Mr Blinken’s confirmation hearing before the foreign relations panel went smoothly last week, with both Democrats and Republicans offering praise. He said at the hearing. among other things, that China posed the most significant challenge to the United States of any nation, and that he believed there was a very strong foundation to build a bipartisan policy to stand up to Beijing.

Mr Blinken was a committee staff director before he joined the Obama administration.

His confirmation process did not begin as early as is typical for a secretary of state, as former president Donald Trump fought Mr Biden’s election victory with fruitless court challenges. Trump supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan 6.

Senate leaders also have been jockeying over rules for how the chamber should conduct its business, given the 50-50 split between the two parties.

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