#Biden expected to nominate Antony Blinken as secretary of state

President-elect Joe Biden’s secretary of state nominee is reportedly expected to be Antony Blinken — a foreign affairs adviser to Biden’s campaign who served in both the State Department and the National Security Agency under Presidents Obama and Clinton.

Sources close to Biden’s Cabinet-choosing process told the New York Times of Blinken’s likely nomination as the nation’s top diplomat.

Blinken, 58, who has worked in various capacities with Biden for nearly 20 years, had been rumored as a front-runner for the position. Biden will announce the first selection of his Cabinet picks on Tuesday, his advisors said Sunday.

Delaware Sen. Chris Coons, a longtime Biden confidant, was also named as a front-runner to be Biden’s secretary of state, sources have told the Associated Press.

Blinken had served as Biden’s top aide on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the Times reported. When Biden was vice president, Blinken was his national security adviser.