The Senate voted to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee Antony Blinken as Secretary of State on Tuesday, where he is expected to face the challenge of restoring the United States’ place on the world stage after the Trump administration’s “America First” foreign policy.

The final vote was 78-22.

What You Need To Know

  • The Senate voted 78-22 to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee Antony Blinken as Secretary of State on Tuesday

  • Blinken served as  Biden’s National Security Advisor when he was vice president, later serving as Deputy National Security Advisor and Deputy Secretary of State in the Obama administration

  • During his confirmation hearings, Blinken was pressed on the Iran nuclear deal, was questioned on the Biden administration’s plan to work with China, and pledged to work with Congress on key foreign policy matters

  • Blinken pledged to restore the State Department to its former standing, calling for "humility and confidence" after former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s calls for the department to "get its swagger back"

Blinken, a veteran diplomat under former president Barack Obama and longtime adviser to President Joe Biden, received wide bipartisan support from the Foreign Relations Committee on Monday, with a vote of 15-3 – only Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Rand Paul (R-KY), and John Barrasso (R-WY) voted against advancing Blinken to the Senate.

Blinken started at the State Department under the Clinton administration, before serving as Biden’s National Security Advisor when he was vice president. He later served as Deputy National Security Advisor and Deputy Secretary of State in the Obama administration.

Notably, Blinken was in the Situation Room during the 2011 raid that killed Osama Bin Laden as Biden’s National Security Advisor, and a major part in formulating the Obama administration’s response to the Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 as Deputy National Security Advisor.

During his confirmation hearings, Blinken was pressed on the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump withdrew from in 2018, was questioned on the Biden administration’s plan to work with China, and pledged to work with Congress on key foreign policy matters. 

He also pledged to restore the State Department to its former standing, calling for “humility and confidence” after former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s calls for the department to “get its swagger back.”

"Humility because we have a great deal of work to do at home to enhance our standing abroad,” Blinken said, “and humility because most of the world's problems are not about us, even as they affect us. 

“Not one of the big challenges we face can be met by one country acting alone – even one as powerful as the U.S.,” Blinken added, “but we'll also act with confidence that America at its best still has a greater ability than any country on earth to mobilize others for the greater good."

Blinken noted that he is “committed to advancing our security and prosperity by building a diplomatic corps that fully represents America in all its talent and diversity.”