Nomination and confirmation at the
U.S. State Department on January 26, 2021 Blinken was a
foreign policy advisor for Biden's
2020 presidential campaign. On November 22, 2020,
Bloomberg News reported that Biden had selected Blinken as his nominee for secretary of state. These reports were later corroborated by
The New York Times and other outlets. On November 24, upon being announced as Biden's choice for secretary of state, Blinken said, "We can't solve all the world's problems alone [and] we need to be working with other countries." He had earlier remarked in a September 2020 interview with the
Associated Press that "democracy is in retreat around the world, and unfortunately it's also in retreat at home because of the president taking a two-by-four to its institutions, its values and its people every day." Blinken's confirmation hearing before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee began on January 19, 2021. His nomination was confirmed by the committee on January 25 with a vote of 15–3. On January 26, Blinken was confirmed in the full Senate by a vote of 78–22. In doing so, he became the third former deputy secretary of state to serve as the
Secretary of State, after
Lawrence Eagleburger and
Warren Christopher in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
Tenure Africa on September 21, 2022 In February 2021, Blinken condemned
ethnic cleansing in the Tigray region of northern
Ethiopia and called for the immediate withdrawal of
Eritrean forces and other fighters. In the midst of the Biden administration's continuing review of the
normalization agreement between Morocco and Israel enacted during the previous administration, Blinken maintained that the recognition of
Morocco's sovereignty over the
disputed territory of
Western Sahara, which was annexed by Morocco in 1975, will not be reversed imminently. During internal discussions, he supported improving relations between the two countries and expressed urgency in appointing a United Nations envoy to Western Sahara. In March 2023, Blinken met with Ethiopian prime minister
Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa to normalize relations between the United States and
Ethiopia that were strained by the
Tigray War between the Ethiopian government and
Tigray rebels. In January 2025, Blinken declared that the combatants in the
Sudanese civil war were carrying out a
genocide. He also condemned the Chinese government for committing
genocide against ethnic Uyghurs. In July 2021, the Biden administration accused China of a
global cyberespionage campaign, which Blinken said posed "a major threat to our economic and national security". In late April 2021, Blinken denounced the sentencing of Hong Kong pro-democracy activists
Jimmy Lai,
Albert Ho, and
Lee Cheuk-yan among others, for their roles in the
2019 Hong Kong protests, calling it a "politically-motivated" decision. in
Bali,
Indonesia, on July 9, 2022. In May 2022, Blinken stated that "China is the one country that has the intention as well as the economic, technological, military and diplomatic means to advance a different vision of international order." He dismissed China's claims to be neutral in the
Russo-Ukrainian War and accused China of supporting Russia. In May 2022, Blinken says U.S. to rely on "Alliances", "Trade" and "Investment" to
counter China, and focus on defending the rules-based order Beijing is trying to reshape. In June 2023, Blinken met with Chinese president
Xi Jinping during his trip to Beijing. According to the State Department's readout, Blinken "emphasized the importance of maintaining open channels of communication across the full range of issues to reduce the risk of miscalculation" and "made clear that while we will compete vigorously, the United States will responsibly manage that competition so that the relationship does not veer into conflict." . On November 15, 2023, Blinken accompanied Biden as together they hosted
Xi Jinping and
Wang Yi in
Woodside, California and the so-called
2023 Woodside Summit. Top-level cabinet officials, such as
Janet Yellen and
John Kerry also were at the meeting table there.
Myanmar On January 31, 2021, Blinken condemned the
2021 Myanmar coup d'état and expressed grave concerns on the detention of government officials and civil society leaders, calling for their immediate release. He stated that, "the United States will continue to take firm action against those who perpetrate violence against the people of Burma as they demand the restoration of their democratically elected government."
Afghanistan to discuss
U.S. troop withdrawal In February 2021, having spoken to president
Ashraf Ghani, Blinken voiced support for
Afghan peace negotiations with
Taliban Islamist rebels and reiterated the United States' commitment to a peace deal that includes a "just and durable political settlement and permanent and comprehensive ceasefire." Blinken made an unannounced visit to
Kabul on April 15 and met with U.S. military and diplomatic personnel following the Biden administration's announcement of the
2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. He said the decision to withdraw from
Afghanistan was made to focus resources on China and the
COVID-19 pandemic. He faced calls to resign as secretary of state following the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. on August 15, 2021 In August 2021, Blinken rejected comparisons between the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan due to the
Taliban offensive, which started in May 2021 after U.S. and coalition military forces began withdrawing from Afghanistan, and the chaotic
American departure from Saigon in 1975, saying that "We went to Afghanistan 20 years ago with one mission, and that mission was to deal with the folks who attacked us on
9/11 and we have succeeded in that mission." On September 25, 2024, the
United States House of Representatives passed a resolution condemning the Biden-Harris administration for the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The resolution passed 219-194, with 10 Democrats and all Republicans voting in favor. Two
New York Times diplomatic correspondents in a 2025 end of term assessment called the withdrawal Blinken's first test as Secretary of State, stating it was widely considered a fiasco.
Israel-Palestine During the
2021 Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Blinken expressed "absolute" support for
Israel's right to defend itself but warned that evicting Palestinian families from their homes in
East Jerusalem is among the actions that could further escalate outbreaks of violence and retaliation. meeting with Blinken, January 9, 2024 During a visit to Tel Aviv following the
October 7 attacks, Blinken promised to help defend Israel "as long as America exists." Blinken said that "Israel has the right, indeed the obligation, to defend itself and to ensure that this never happens again." , October 22, 2024 In April 2024, it was reported that Blinken had refused to act on recommendations from the
Israel Leahy Vetting Forum to sanction Israeli units that had been accused of human rights violations including torture, rape, and extrajudicial killings in the
West Bank. During a hearing before the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee on May 21, 2024, Blinken faced fierce criticism from protestors who interrupted his testimony by shouting as they were escorted from the hearing room, including calling him "the Butcher of Gaza" and "Bloody Blinken". A
Times of Israel report found that in August 2024, Blinken falsely announced that
Benjamin Netanyahu had accepted a US proposal for a hostage deal, which and lead to the round of negotiations falling apart.
ProPublica reported on September 24, 2024, that Blinken lied to the U.S. Congress, ignoring two reports, one from the
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the other from State Department
Refugees Bureau, that Israel had indeed
blocked humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza. First-hand reports had previously shown Israelis
blocking and even destroying aid on trucks. Following the report,
U.S. representative Rashida Tlaib and the
Council on American–Islamic Relations called for Blinken's resignation. On January 14, 2025, Blinken expressed his assessment that Hamas had recruited almost as many new members as it had lost in the Israel-Hamas war and that this was due to Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to advance an alternative to Hamas leadership in Gaza. In that same speech, Blinken was interrupted by three protesters who reiterated the common sobriquet "Bloody Blinken" and referred to him as the "Secretary of
Genocide". During his final press conference as Secretary of State, journalists
Max Blumenthal and
Sam Husseini were forcefully removed after asking questions about Gaza policy.
Europe , Turkish FM
Çavuşoğlu, British FM
Raab, Italian FM
Di Maio, NATO Secretary General
Stoltenberg and U.S. Secretary of Defense
Austin, April 2021 The decision to
waive sanctions against
Nord Stream AG and its chief executive
Matthias Warnig, subsequent to the completion of the
Nord Stream 2 natural gas
pipeline, drew congressional criticisms. Blinken defended the action as pragmatic and practical to U.S. interests and remarked that proceeding otherwise would be counterproductive with European relations. Blinken and Biden both acknowledged that relations between the U.S. and Russia were at their lowest point, and a more predictable relationship remained a key priority. However, he signaled that further punitive actions would be enforced if the Russian government chose to continue with hostile activities such as
interference in the 2020 presidential elections, the
SolarWinds cyberattack, or the
apparent poisoning and
imprisonment of Alexei Navalny. Later that month, Blinken traveled to Brussels for a NATO Ministerial with European Union counterparts to underscore the Biden administration's determination to strengthen transatlantic alliances. Blinken has been a co-chair of the
Trade and Technology Council since its creation in 2021 to encourage trade relations with the European Union.
Russia-Ukraine war in Kyiv in 2022. As Secretary of State, Blinken has been deeply involved in the American response to the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. In January 2022, Blinken authorized the
supply of weapons to
Ukraine to support the Eastern European country in amid border tensions with Russia. At a joint press availability with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on January 19, Blinken said "One of the principles which you've heard us repeat – but it always bears repeating – is
nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. Blinken publicly warned on February 11 of the likelihood of a
Russian invasion of Ukraine prior to the end the
2022 Winter Olympics and on February 13, he said the risk was "high enough and the threat is imminent enough" that the
evacuation of most staff from the U.S. Embassy in
Kyiv was "the prudent thing to do". In September 2022, Blinken pledged that the United States would help the Ukrainian military retake
Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine. He criticized
Vladimir Putin's threats to use
nuclear weapons, saying that "Russia has gotten itself into the mess that it's in is because there is no one in the [autocratic] system to effectively tell Putin he's doing the wrong thing." Regarding the countries that decided to be
neutral in the war between Russia and Ukraine, Blinken said that "It's pretty hard to be neutral when it comes to this aggression. There is a clear aggressor. There is a clear victim." Speaking about the
2022 Russian mobilization, he said that mobilized Russian civilians were being treated as "cannon fodder that Putin is trying to throw into the war." On October 21, 2022, Blinken said the United States saw no willingness on the side of Russia to end its war in Ukraine by
diplomatic means, despite American attempts. In late 2022, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff
Mark Milley suggested that Ukraine should take advantage of battlefield gains
in Kharkiv and
Kherson to seek peace talks, however Blinken rejected this advice. In June 2023, he rejected any "cease-fire that simply freezes current lines in place". In July 2023, he defended Biden's decision to supply Ukraine with
cluster munitions. In June 2024, Blinken said that
China's support for Russia was prolonging the war in Ukraine.
South America Blinken spoke with the
interim president of
Venezuela,
Juan Guaidó, whom the Biden administration continued to recognize as the country's head of state and not
Nicolás Maduro.
G7 meeting In May 2021, Blinken traveled to London and
Reykjavík for the
G7 Foreign and Development Ministers' meeting and the
Arctic Council Ministerial meeting respectively. In a meeting with president
Volodymyr Zelensky and foreign minister
Dmytro Kuleba in
Kyiv, Blinken reaffirmed support for
Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity against "Russian aggression". During the
2021 Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Blinken expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself but warned that evicting Palestinian families from their homes in
East Jerusalem is among the actions that could further escalate outbreaks of violence and retaliation. Following the ceasefire and coinciding Blinken's visit to Jerusalem on May 25, the transfer of food and medical supplies furnished by the United Nations and
Physicians for Human Rights, aid workers, and journalists were permitted into the Gaza Strip.
Americans detained abroad Blinken and the Biden administration have been criticized for the handling of
Americans who are wrongfully imprisoned abroad. Families of U.S. detainees in the Middle East were upset that they were left off of a call with Secretary Blinken. In July 2022, Blinken had a meeting with
Sergey Lavrov to discuss a prisoner swap to secure the release of
Paul Whelan and
Brittney Griner. Blinken has met with the
Bring Our Families Home campaign, a coalition of families with loved ones detained abroad. Blinken, along with the work of Special Presidential Envoy of Hostage Affairs
Roger D. Carstens, has negotiated the release of over a dozen Americans wrongfully detained or held hostage abroad including
Trevor Reed,
Danny Fenster,
Baquer Namazi, the entire
Citgo Six, Osman Khan,
Matthew John Heath,
Mark Frerichs, and Jorge Alberto Fernández.
Contempt of Congress On September 24, 2024, the
House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to recommend
U.S. Secretary of State Blinken be held in
contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena seeking information about the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. The full House of Representatives has not yet scheduled a vote on the committee's recommendation. The
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Mike Johnson, commented that he expected the measure would likely not be taken up for a vote until after the presidential election. ==Post-Biden administration (2025–present)==