Senators approve an Asia veteran as No. 2 diplomat, underscoring US efforts to keep focus on China
Senators have confirmed a veteran of U.S.-Asian engagement and security as the State Department’s second-ranking diplomat
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senators on Tuesday confirmed a veteran of U.S.-Asian engagement and security as the State Department's second-ranking diplomat, in an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote.
The approval of President Joe Biden's nomination of Kurt Campbell as deputy secretary of state underscores decades of efforts by Biden and his modern predecessors to turn the United States' main foreign policy focus to China as the big challenge for America going forward.
Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks and the Israeli offensive and regional fighting that followed have made Biden only the latest U.S. leader forced to pivot attention back to Middle East conflicts, however.
The Senate approved Campbell 92-5 in a show of bipartisan support. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont joined the Republicans voting no.
