A ban on moving detainees to U.S. soil has been law throughout Obama’s eight years in office. | Getty House rebukes Obama with ban on Gitmo transfers

The House on Thursday passed a bill that bans the transfer of detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, an election-year rebuke of the Obama administration’s efforts to whittle down the population of suspected terrorists at the controversial facility.

The measure, which passed 244-174 on a mostly party-line vote, bars prisoners from being transferred to foreign countries or relocated to American soil. A dozen Democrats voted in favor.


It is the latest effort by the GOP-controlled House to block President Barack Obama's aggressive efforts to reduce the prison population after failing to fulfill a campaign promise to close it altogether out of the belief the harsh treatment of suspected terrorists and lack of trials in civilian courts has harmed U.S. interests.

The administration has reduced the prison population to 61, from more than 100 at the beginning of the year, by shipping those deemed less dangerous to be incarcerated in foreign countries. At issue are 20 of the remaining detainees that the the Obama administration has deemed transferable following vetting from a task force; the rest are undergoing military judicial proceedings or are considered too dangerous to transfer.

Republicans argue that a ban on transfers is necessary because the Obama administration is ignoring the risks of sending Guantanamo detainees to foreign countries, pointing to statistics from the Director of National Intelligence that 30 percent of detainees have returned or are suspected of returning to the terror fight.

The latest report found another two former Guantanamo detainees had returned to fighting, according to Reuters.

“It’s an unfortunate reality that our president remains willing to continue putting a misguided campaign promise ahead of the national security,” said Rep. Jackie Walorksi (R-Ind.), the sponsor of the bill.

But Democrats argue that Republicans are merely trying to circumvent the president’s authorities.

Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, said most detainees who have returned to terrorism were released by the George W. Bush administration, and the rate of detainees returning to militancy released by Obama was less than 6 percent.

“At every level, this bill is probably unconstitutional, and certainly immoral,” said Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).

The bill is effectively an election-year messaging effort and is unlikely to become law. The White House has threatened to veto the measure, and the Senate hasn’t suggested it would take it up before leaving for the November elections.

A ban on moving detainees to U.S. soil has been law throughout Obama’s eight years in office. Obama had hoped to send the most dangerous detainees to a prison on U.S. soil and close Guantanamo.

But a proposed closure plan sent to Congress earlier this year did not specify an alternate location, which has always been a key roadblock to shuttering the prison — even among some Democrats wary of holding high-profile terrorists in their states.

The House bill keeps the ban in place until a new administration takes office next year or until the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act was signed into law, whichever comes first.