Obama veterans added to team for State Department

WASHINGTON — President- e lect Joe Biden on Saturday filled out his State Department team with a group of former career diplomats and veterans of the Obama administration, sig- naling his desire to return to a more traditional foreign policy after four years.

Biden wi ll no minate Wendy Sherman as deputy secretary of state and Victoria Nuland as undersecretary of state for political affairs — the second- and third-highest ranking posts, respectively. They were among the 11 offi- cials announced to serve under the incoming secretary of state, Antony Blinken.

The team “embodies my core belief that America is strongest when it works with our allies,” Biden said in a statement. He said he was confident “they will use their diplomatic experience and skill to restore America’s global and moral leadership. America is back.” Among the others are:

■ Longtime Biden Senate aide Brian McKeon, to be deputy secretary of state for management. That deputy position has been vacant for some time and McKeon and Sherman are expected to share duties as the department’s No. 3 official.

■ Former senior diplomats Bonnie Jenkins and Uzra Zeya, to be under secretary of state for arms control and undersecretary of state of democracy and human rights, respectively.

■ Derek Chollet, a familiar Democratic foreign policy hand, to be State Department counselor.

■ Former U.N.official Salman Ahmed, who also served as head of strategic planning in the ObamaNational Security Council, as director of policy planning.

■ Suzy George, who was a senior aide to former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, will be Blinken’s chief of staff.

■ Ned Price, a former Obama NSC staffer and career CIA official who resigned in protest in the early days of the Trump administration, will serve as the public face of the department, taking on the role of spokesman.