A federal spending bill the House was expected to pass Wednesday would bar the transfer of terrorism suspects from Guantanamo Bay prison to U.S. soil, a blow to the Obama administration's efforts to prosecute them in criminal courts.
The proposed legislation prohibits moving such prisoners to the United States under any circumstances by prohibiting the administration from spending any money to do so.
In the past, the government was allowed to bring detainees, including the self-professed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, to U.S. ground to face trial.
The provision was tucked in legislation to fund the U.S. government's operations through the end of the fiscal 2011 year, Sept. 30, 2011.
Rebuke from Justice Department, White House
Its inclusion drew an angry rebuke from the Justice Department, which argued that Congress should not restrict how President Barack Obama can prosecute cases.
"We strongly oppose this provision. Congress should not limit the tools available to the executive branch in bringing terrorists to justice and advancing our national security interests," said Justice Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
The House measure would also have to pass the Senate and its future there was not certain.
The first detainee held at the Guantanamo prison was brought to the United States last year and was prosecuted in a federal court in New York. He was acquitted on all but one of the 285 charges against him in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa.
That verdict involving Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani drew stinging criticism from Republicans over the sole guilty verdict, which carries a sentence of 20 years to life in prison. They said terrorism suspects should face special military commissions.
Obama administration officials have countered that scores of terrorism suspects have been prosecuted in criminal courts and they should have both venues as options in the future, including detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba prison.
There are still 174 detainees at Guantanamo prison and about three dozen were set for prosecution in either U.S. criminal courts or military commissions. Republicans have demanded that the trials be held at Guantanamo.
Republicans and some of President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats blasted plans by Holder to prosecute Mohammed and four of his accused co-conspirators for the Sept. 11 attacks in New York. They expressed concerns about security and whether the suspects were entitled to full U.S. legal rights.
The White House then shelved that plan and is now reconsidering how to move forward with those trials. Holder has defended his plan.
The spending ban makes it impossible for Obama to follow through on his campaign pledge to close the prison at least through next September, when the spending bill expires, soon.