We knew this was coming, right?
Without even taking time to review and consider it, much less hold a hearing, House Republicans have announced that they will block the president's plan to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In the event that Congressional Republicans cannot scrounge enough votes to accomplish their goal, they're also preparing to take legal action.
Ryan told reporters that lawmakers have the votes to block Obama's plan in Congress and enough votes to override any veto. Separately, the Wisconsin Republican said the GOP is "preparing our legal challenge" to ensure the prison remains open and detainees aren't moved to the U.S.
Earlier this month, House Republicans awarded the Jones Day law firm with a $150,000 contract to perform the legal work in case Obama tries to move Guantanamo detainees to federal prisons.
I believe this will end with the prison remaining open for the next president to deal with. The only question I have is how useful idiots in the media and the far left will spin this.
After faintly praising the president for unveiling a plan, will they now go back to pretending he never cared about closing the prison? Will they selectively forget Congress has blocked closure every single year with this year being no different? Will they resume their two-term habit of blaming him for Republican (and some Democratic) intransigence?
If they don't, I'll eat my hat.
To be clear, some Republicans who've previously pretended to be in favor of closing the prison, such as John McCain, are now saying they oppose the president's plan because it isn't "detailed" enough, but if that is true there is a very good reason for it.
What the president's plan lacks in detail can be directly attributed to laws passed by Congress.
Navy Cmdr. Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said the administration was adhering to Sec. 1032 of the NDAA.
"We are constrained by law from undertaking design or detailed planning for a U.S.-based facility, which hinders our ability to develop precise cost estimates. However, we reviewed a number of possible locations," Ross told CQ. "Rather than initiate a debate about the merits of any particular location, we believe it is important to seek a dialogue with Congress and establish parameters for a U.S.-based detention facility."
In the words, the language Republicans in Congress have added to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in previous years to block the closure of the prison has made it that much more difficult to even come up a plan to close the prison.