Position In Biden Administration:
Secretary of State
Nomination Details:
- Nomination Announced: November 22, 20202
- Confirmation Status: Pending
Past Work:
- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State (2015-2017)
- U.S. Senator Deputy National Security Advisor (2013-2015)
- National Security Advisor to the Vice President (2009-2013)
In His Own Words:
- “Quite simply, [climate change] is arguably the one truly existential issue that we face. It has to be, and under a Biden administration would be, a number-one priority.”
- “…not a single one of the big challenges we face, whether it’s climate change or mass migration or technological disruption or pandemic disease, can be met by any one country acting alone, even one as powerful as our own.”
- “I think you’d see a Biden demonstration having established a relative strength in the relationship, then be able to engage China and work with China, in areas where our interests clearly overlap, whether it is again, contending with climate change, dealing with global health and pandemics, dealing with the spread of dangerous weapons.”
About Blinken:
Antony Blinken was Deputy National Security Advisor from 2013 to 2015 and Deputy Secretary of State from 2015 to 2017. In comments leading up to his appointment as Secretary of State, Blinken referred to climate change as “arguably the one truly existential issue that we face.” He also said that “it has to be, and under a Biden administration would be, a number-one priority.”
During his confirmation hearing she pledged to “take on the existential threat posed by climate change.” Blinken also told lawmakers that he expects the State Department to make climate change a top issue “immediately,” given John Kerry’s role in the administration as a special envoy for climate. Climate justice “is something that will very much factor into what we’re doing around the world,” Blinken said in response to a question from Sen. Ed Markey.
Fun Facts:
- Francophile
Learn more about the Biden administration’s energy policies here.