Story highlights President Barack Obama had pledged to shutter the prison

President-elect Donald Trump has opposed further reducing the number of inmates

Washington (CNN) The Pentagon announced Thursday that four more inmates were transferred out of the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, marking the final such transfer under President Barack Obama and leaving the facility's population at 41.

Thursday's transfer concludes the Obama administration's final push to empty the facility as much as possible prior to Friday's inauguration, with 19 inmates being transferred since Election Day. One of the inmates is going to Saudi Arabia and the other three are being taken in by the United Arab Emirates.

There were 242 detainees at Guantanamo when Obama came into office in January 2009 and he had pledged to close the controversial center within one year in an executive order he signed shortly after his own inauguration. But in recent days, administration officials have acknowledged that this goal was out of reach.

"I don't anticipate that we will succeed in that goal of closing the prison, but it's not for a lack of trying -- that, I assure you," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Tuesday.

Earnest blamed both Republicans and Democrats in Congress for the administration's failure to close the detention facility.

Read More