被美國多家主流媒體宣佈為美國2020大選獲勝者的民主黨總統候選人拜登正在積極組建白宮班底。多名知情人士透露，安東尼·布林肯是拜登國務卿人選的“領跑者”。由於美國國務卿擔任着外交使命，相關人選備受外界關注。
彭博社記者詹妮弗·愛潑斯坦的推文也顯示，拜登將任命其長期助手布林肯為國務卿。此外她還表示，傑克·沙利文很可能被任命為國家安全顧問。
拜登過渡團隊表示，他們將於當地時間11月24日宣佈內閣成員名單。
Antony Blinken is the leading contender to become Joe Biden‘s nominee for secretary of state， according to multiple people familiar with the Biden team’s planning。
Advisers to the projected president－elect‘s transition have said they’ll make their first Cabinet announcements on Tuesday。
何許人也？
現年58歲的布林肯先後畢業於哈佛大學和哥倫比亞大學法學院，在克林頓政府和奧巴馬政府均任過職，是民主黨的一位“老兵”，長期從事外交政策相關工作。
布林肯曾就職於克林頓政府的國家安全委員會以及參議院外交委員會。拜登當時是參議院外交委員會主席，自那時起，布林肯一直是拜登在外交事務上的臂膀。在奧巴馬政府時期，布林肯重返國家安全委員會，擔任時任副總統拜登的國家安全事務顧問，後又擔任副國務卿。
美媒指出，若布林肯成功當選國務卿，他將成為下屆政府努力重塑美國與世界其他國家和地區間關係的主導力量。
Blinken， 58， served as deputy secretary of state and deputy national security adviser during the Obama administration and has close ties with Biden。 If nominated and confirmed， he would be a leading force in the incoming administration‘s bid to reframe the U．S。 relationship with the rest of the world after four years in which President Donald Trump questioned longtime alliances。
A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School and a longtime Democratic foreign policy presence， Blinken has aligned himself with numerous former senior national security officials who have called for a major reinvestment in American diplomacy and renewed emphasis on global engagement。
He served on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration before becoming staff director for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when Biden was chair of the panel。 In the early years of the Obama administration， Blinken returned to the NSC and was then－Vice President Biden‘s national security adviser before he moved to the State Department to serve as deputy to Secretary of State John Kerry。
有何考量？
據美媒分析，在組閣過程中，拜登可能會迴避一些棘手的問題。美國前國家安全顧問蘇珊·賴斯和特拉華州參議員克里斯·庫恩斯也被視為國務卿的熱門人選，為何布林肯是該職位的“領跑者”？這其中究竟有何考量？
任命賴斯或將遭到共和黨的強烈反對，還可能在參議院遭否決。2012年，美國駐利比亞班加西領事館遭到恐怖分子襲擊，賴斯一開始表示這是一次示威者的“即興行為”，不是有預謀的恐怖襲擊活動，但此後的情報顯示賴斯的説法有誤。隨後，共和黨人緊緊抓住這個把柄，對賴斯大肆攻擊。
庫恩斯則是受到參議院權力平衡的影響。民主黨希望“奪回”參議院，而美國兩黨對參議院控制權的爭奪最終結果要到明年1月才能見分曉。在此前佐治亞州的參議院選舉中，由於所有候選人均未超過50％的支持率，該州將在明年1月舉行第二輪選舉。
In nominating Blinken， Biden would sidestep potentially thorny issues that could have affected Senate confirmation for two other candidates on his short list to be America‘s top diplomat： Susan Rice and Sen。 Chris Coons。
Rice would have faced significant GOP opposition and likely rejection in the Senate。 She has long been a target of Republicans， including for statements she made after the deadly 2012 attacks on Americans in Benghazi， Libya。
Coons‘ departure from the Senate would have come as other Democratic senators are being considered for administrative posts and the party is hoping to win back the Senate。 Control hangs on the result of two runoff elections in Georgia in January。