Washington, Dec 17 (IANS/EFE): The US Senate has confirmed Antony Blinken, deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, as number two at the State Department replacing William Burns.

With 55 votes in favour and 38 against, Blinken Tuesday became the right hand man of US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Blinken, 52, was national security aide to Vice-President Joe Biden during Obama's first term, and served as the Democratic staff director for the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee between 2002 and 2008.

From 1994 to 2001, he was on President Bill Clinton's National Security Council staff at the White House, where he was the principal advisor for relations with European countries, the European Union and NATO.

In a statement, President Obama said, "Over decades of dedicated public service, Tony has displayed extraordinary integrity, judgment, and inclusiveness as he has implemented America's foreign policy priorities."