The Obama administration made it clear Thursday that it still wants the terrorist detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, closed before President Obama leaves office, but had no explanation for how it would achieve that goal, especially in light of federal law that effectively prevents its closure.
Vice President Joe Biden opened the Gitmo can of worms during a stop in Stockholm on Thursday, and when the White House was pressed on the issue, it could only stress that it would try as hard as it could to get it done.
“What we will continue to do is to work to overcome the obstacles that Congress has erected to prevent the closure of the prison at Guantanamo Bay,” said press secretary Josh Earnest. “So, you know, we’re going to do our best to try to get this closed; and it’s our expectation that that’s what we’ll do.”
“I can’t lay out for you exactly the path for how that’s going to take place right now,” Earnest said. “But the president’s determined to make progress and accomplish this goal before he leaves.”
Republicans immediately pounced on Biden’s prediction, and said they don’t see how it’s possible given the unwillingness of Congress to change the law.
“Contrary to what this administration has repeatedly asserted, emptying and closing Guantanamo Bay would make our country less safe — and if they have to transfer these dangerous terrorists to the United States in order to empty the facility, that would be a blatant and serious violation of the plain language of the law,” said Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.
Obama’s strategy so far has been to achieve a de facto closure by shipping Guantanamo’s remaining prisoners to other countries.
In August, the United Arab Emirates took in 15 detainees, which dropped the prison’s population to 61. Twenty more inmates have been cleared for transfer to other countries, meaning that the few dozen deemed too dangerous to transfer might be the only ones left on Obama’s last day in office.
But the question is where to put those few dozen dangerous detainees. Because they’re too dangerous to transfer, Obama has indicated an interest in holding them somewhere in the United States.
That’s where federal law kicks in: it holds that Guantanamo Bay detainees cannot be moved back to the U.S., and essentially prevents the facility from being closed.
The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday openly asked how the White House can even hope to close the facility given that obstacle.
“Given that half of the remaining detainees are too dangerous to release and that it would be illegal to transfer them to the U.S., how does Vice President Biden expect the president to close Gitmo without violating the law?” the House committee asked.
The committee also noted that members of Obama’s own cabinet have admitted it’s against the law to return them to the U.S.
“[T]he American people and bipartisan majorities in Congress have rejected this plan again and again,” it said. “Bringing Gitmo detainees to the U.S. is against the law, a fact that key members of the Obama administration have reaffirmed in recent months.”
White House officials are well aware that if they can’t move the last wave of prisoners somewhere else, they might fall just short of their goal of closing it down, and instead leave the next president and Congress with an almost-empty facility that would be cost prohibitive to keep open.
Obama has threatened to get his way by issuing an executive order to close the facility, but he has always offered the carrot of trying to reach a solution with Congress. But that eleventh-hour solution would likely be challenged immediately by Republicans.
For now, Earnest said that the White House is keep its hopes up, even though he couldn’t point to a possible solution.
“I think what I would say is that your pessimism is understandable, but we’re in the business of hope around here,” Earnest said.
