House Republicans are preparing a legal challenge against the Obama administration in case President Obama moves to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and transfer detainees to the United States, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Wednesday.
Ryan said Obama has “no authority” to transfer any of the 91 detainees to U.S. prisons because Congress has passed legislation banning it, and Obama signed that bill into law. The prohibition was included most recently in a measure authorizing fiscal 2016 defense spending.
“So, if the president proceeds with knowingly breaking the law, he will be met with fierce bipartisan resistance,” the Wisconsin Republican told reporters Wednesday. “We are taking all the legal preparations necessary to meet with that resistance. He can’t do it and the law is really clear.”
Both House and Senate Republicans have denounced Obama’s plan to close the prison. The president has not announced specific plans to relocate the prisoners but said he would identify 13 potential U.S. sites.
Recent polls show a majority of Americans oppose closing the prison.
“Congress and the American people have clearly spoken on this issue,” Ryan said. “This is against the law and it will stay against the law.”
