U.S. President-elect Joe Biden is expected to tap more alumni from the former Obama administration for national security positions, according to media reports.
Biden is expected to nominate Wendy Sherman, who was the lead negotiator for the United States in reaching the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, as U.S. deputy secretary of state.
Sherman, who is Jewish, would serve under Tony Blinken, also Jewish, whom Biden announced, following his presidential election victory, as his nominee for U.S. secretary of state. Blinken and Sherman’s nominations require U.S. Senate confirmation—the chances of which drastically increased with the Democrats poised to take control of the upper congressional chamber from Republicans following Tuesday’s Senate runoffs in Georgia.
Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, has been declared the winner over Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of the two U.S. Senate runoffs in Georgia that were held on Tuesday to determine which party would control the upper congressional chamber.
With 98 percent of votes reporting, Warnock won with 50.6 percent, while Loeffler received 49.4 percent.
In the other runoff, with 98 percent reporting, Democrat Jon Ossoff, who is Jewish, is leading ahead of Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue with 50.2 percent of the vote to the latter’s 49.8 percent. The race has yet to be called by major media outlets and may go to a recount.
On the National Security Council, Jon Finer is expected to be U.S. deputy national security advisor and would serve under incoming U.S. national security advisor Jake Sullivan. National Security Council positions don’t require Senate confirmation.
Politico first reported on the latest round of expected picks on Monday.
Finally, Biden is expected to pick Brett McGurk, who served under U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump as the U.S. envoy for the global coalition against the Islamic State, to manage the NSC’s Middle East and North Africa portfolio. The New York Times first reported this expected move on Monday.
