The presidents authority as commander in chief is about to collide with Congress power of the purse over the future of the prison at Guantnamo Bay Cuba.
The dollar amounts involved are tiny in federal budgetary terms. To help cover the costs of closing the facility and developing a new detainee policy President Obama requested $80 million in fiscal 2009 supplementary funds.
Details of his fiscal 2010 budget proposal released Thursday outline an additional $60 million for the Justice Department plus $100 million more for the Defense Department.
Still the fact that it takes money to close a prison even if its a military facility ostensibly controlled by the commander in chief and transport its residents means that Congress has a say in the matter.
And Congress is nervous.
Democratic and Republican appropriators alike worried that detainees might be transferred to the United States are holding on to their purse strings and anxiously awaiting more information about the administrations plans.
The Justice Department is the lead agency in reviewing the status of the 241 detainees. But lawmakers might not give the department any money for that purpose until Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. reveals the plans for the detainees.
Democrats stripped $30 million from the administrations fiscal 2009 supplemental spending request that the Justice Department wanted to cover the costs of three administration task forces on detainees along with $50 million requested for the Defense Department.
The Justice Department is currently funding its efforts out of previously appropriated funds.
The House Appropriations Committee inserted language in the fiscal 2009 supplemental spending measure Thursday requiring Obama to submit a written plan for the Guantnamo prison by Oct. 1.
Destination Unknown
The question of whether some detainees will be sent to the United States is a politically explosive issue that Republicans are highlighting on a daily basis.
Rep. Frank R. Wolf of Virginia the top Republican on the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee said May 6 that Holder will not allow FBI officials to brief him about individual detainees. Eric Holder is covering up information" Wolf said. He added We are going to stay with this issue until they release all this information."
Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said The department has been providing briefings on the Guantnamo detainee review process to members of Congress and their staff including a detailed briefing given to Congressman Wolf just two weeks ago. The attorney general also testified before a subcommittee on which Congressman Wolf sits on April 23."
Testifying Thursday before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that handles the Justice Department Holder sought to assuage lawmakers concerns on the issue.
We are . . . still in the process of making those determinations making individualized determinations as to where these people should go and paramount in our concern is the safety of the American people. We are not going to put at risk the safety of the people of this country" Holder said.
The subcommittees chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski D-Md. extracted a promise from Holder that the department would consult with Congress and state governors.
More than 80 lawyers at the Justice Department are reviewing tens of thousands of pages of classified records Holder said.
The attorney general signaled that the administration is likely to continue to imprison some detainees indefinitely without charge or trial.
Some are going to be released some are going to be tried some will be detained on a fairly extended basis" Holder said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid D‑Nev. told reporters Thursday that lawmakers might put conditions on related appropriations until the administration reveals its plans for the Guantnamo prisoners.
One of the things that is being considered . . . we could appropriate the money and fence it so that it could only be used when the plan is submitted" Reid said.
In theory if the administration doesnt get what it wants from Congress it could move small amounts around to cover costs associated with closing the facility. However Congress could thwart such efforts by attaching language to appropriations measures explicitly prohibiting the use of any funds to close the prison.
Indeed leading House Republicans introduced legislation Thursday that would circumscribe the administrations ability to move detainees into the United States. As a GOP bill its unlikely to go anywhere. But if sentiment against closing the prison builds on Capitol Hill it would be relatively easy for Congress to tie the presidents hands on the issue by attaching amendments to the relevant appropriations bills.
Bart Jansen contributed to this story
The presidents authority as commander in chief is about to collide with Congress power of the purse over the future of the prison at Guantnamo Bay Cuba.
The dollar amounts involved are tiny in federal budgetary terms. To help cover the costs of closing the facility and developing a new detainee policy President Obama requested $80 million in fiscal 2009 supplementary funds.
Details of his fiscal 2010 budget proposal released Thursday outline an additional $60 million for the Justice Department plus $100 million more for the Defense Department.
Still the fact that it takes money to close a prison even if its a military facility ostensibly controlled by the commander in chief and transport its residents means that Congress has a say in the matter.
And Congress is nervous.
Democratic and Republican appropriators alike worried that detainees might be transferred to the United States are holding on to their purse strings and anxiously awaiting more information about the administrations plans.
The Justice Department is the lead agency in reviewing the status of the 241 detainees. But lawmakers might not give the department any money for that purpose until Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. reveals the plans for the detainees.
Democrats stripped $30 million from the administrations fiscal 2009 supplemental spending request that the Justice Department wanted to cover the costs of three administration task forces on detainees along with $50 million requested for the Defense Department.
The Justice Department is currently funding its efforts out of previously appropriated funds.
The House Appropriations Committee inserted language in the fiscal 2009 supplemental spending measure Thursday requiring Obama to submit a written plan for the Guantnamo prison by Oct. 1.
Destination Unknown
The question of whether some detainees will be sent to the United States is a politically explosive issue that Republicans are highlighting on a daily basis.
Rep. Frank R. Wolf of Virginia the top Republican on the Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations Subcommittee said May 6 that Holder will not allow FBI officials to brief him about individual detainees. Eric Holder is covering up information" Wolf said. He added We are going to stay with this issue until they release all this information."
Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd said The department has been providing briefings on the Guantnamo detainee review process to members of Congress and their staff including a detailed briefing given to Congressman Wolf just two weeks ago. The attorney general also testified before a subcommittee on which Congressman Wolf sits on April 23."
Testifying Thursday before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that handles the Justice Department Holder sought to assuage lawmakers concerns on the issue.
We are . . . still in the process of making those determinations making individualized determinations as to where these people should go and paramount in our concern is the safety of the American people. We are not going to put at risk the safety of the people of this country" Holder said.
The subcommittees chairwoman Barbara A. Mikulski D-Md. extracted a promise from Holder that the department would consult with Congress and state governors.
More than 80 lawyers at the Justice Department are reviewing tens of thousands of pages of classified records Holder said.
The attorney general signaled that the administration is likely to continue to imprison some detainees indefinitely without charge or trial.
Some are going to be released some are going to be tried some will be detained on a fairly extended basis" Holder said.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid D‑Nev. told reporters Thursday that lawmakers might put conditions on related appropriations until the administration reveals its plans for the Guantnamo prisoners.
One of the things that is being considered . . . we could appropriate the money and fence it so that it could only be used when the plan is submitted" Reid said.
In theory if the administration doesnt get what it wants from Congress it could move small amounts around to cover costs associated with closing the facility. However Congress could thwart such efforts by attaching language to appropriations measures explicitly prohibiting the use of any funds to close the prison.
Indeed leading House Republicans introduced legislation Thursday that would circumscribe the administrations ability to move detainees into the United States. As a GOP bill its unlikely to go anywhere. But if sentiment against closing the prison builds on Capitol Hill it would be relatively easy for Congress to tie the presidents hands on the issue by attaching amendments to the relevant appropriations bills.
Bart Jansen contributed to this story
