The United States Senate in a 78-22 vote on Tuesday confirmed Antony Blinken to serve as secretary of the Department of State.

Blinken was nominated for the post by President Joe Biden.

U.S. Senators Richard Shelby (R-AL) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) voted “nay” on the confirmation.

In a statement to Yellowhammer News, Tuberville said, “What’s clear from Blinken’s desire to reenter a nuclear deal with Iran is that he did not learn from the many foreign policy blunders of the Obama years. We need accountability and clear thinking, not a retread of Obama’s failed foreign policy.”

A longtime diplomat who first served in the State Department during the Clinton administration, Blinken also previously served as deputy national security advisor and then deputy secretary of state under then-President Barack Obama. Blinken has never held a senior-level governmental position during a Republican administration and was a CNN analyst last year. He worked for Biden’s 2008 presidential campaign and was a member of the Obama–Biden presidential transition team.

Shelby voted against Blinken’s confirmation as deputy secretary of state in 2014, the only previous time Blinken held a Senate-confirmable post.

The next month, Shelby — as chairman of the Senate Banking Committee at the time — grilled Blinken regarding the Obama administration’s negotiations with Iran and whether Iran was stalling to advance its nuclear program.

Shelby and Tuberville this week also voted against the confirmation of Janet Yellen, Biden’s choice to serve as secretary of the Treasury. Alabama’s senators voted for Biden’s other two nominees up to this point: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn