Administration spokesman Josh Earnest is pessimistic that the infamous military prison at Guantanamo Bay will be shuttered in the next two years, casting doubts on a signature campaign promise his boss made more than six years ago.
“It will be very, very difficult for us to achieve that goal before the president leaves office,” Earnest admitted to reporters on Tuesday.
He cited measures passed by Congress that placed restrictions on detainee releases and the outright barring of prisoner transfers to the United States for trial.
Working within these confines, and at times exercising his own executive powers, the President has managed to release twenty-two detainees since last November. But there are still 127 prisoners left at Guantanamo Bay. Nearly half have already been cleared for transfer.
On Tuesday, a group of hawkish Senators wary of closing Guantanamo introduced a measure to further hamstring shutdown efforts. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), blocks further detainee transfers to Yemen, and suspends transfer of high and medium risk prisoners altogether.
“Now is not the time to be emptying Guantanamo,” Sen. Ayotte said. She added that now is a time to “re-confront the terrorists we have captured.”
Another supporter of the legislation, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) invoked the Charlie Hebdo attacks.
“The attack in Paris indicated the degree in which terrorists are being trained and sent back to commit acts of terror,” he said before claiming “one or possibly both of these individuals…have received training in Yemen.”
Officials are currently piecing together the attacks in Paris from last week. On Sunday, Attorney General Eric Holder said US authorities “don’t have any credible information” yet that allow them to formally link the attack to organizations including al Qaeda, which has secured a foothold in Yemen, despite years of US airstrikes in the country.
The president would likely veto any stand-alone measures that might hinder his efforts to close Guantanamo. However, most restrictions have been tucked into must-pass defense authorization bills that require the president’s signature.
Last year, former Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich) tried to include a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would have allowed for detainee transfers to the United States. As The Sentinel reported, it was eventually negotiated away, and with it went the president’s best chance at closing the facility in a timely manner.
The White House does have the option, however, to ignore Congress when it comes to Guantanamo.
President Obama has been just as eager as his predecessor to claim broad executive powers in carrying out his national security agenda. It stands to reason that Constitutional war powers and the authorization for the use of military force that the White House claimed to expand the war on terror without specific congressional approval also cover unilateral decisions over its military prisons.
Last year’s Bowe Berghdal prisoner exchange is an example of the president defying congressional restrictions that required notification before any detainee releases.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Earnest said he wouldn’t completely rule out the president acting unilaterally in the future to facilitate Guantanamo’s closure, but admitted he doesn’t have many options.
In December, President Obama issued a signing statement to the recently passed NDAA, arguing that restrictions within law concerning Guantanamo were unconstitutional and that his administration would not follow them if conflicts should arise.
