Closure of Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility

January 22, 2009

On his first full day in office, President Obama signed EO 13492 ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within one year and mandating a review of all detainee cases. The order sought to restore habeas corpus rights and due process protections for detainees held without charge, some for over seven years. Congress repeatedly blocked closure by prohibiting funding for detainee transfers to the mainland, creating a separation-of-powers standoff. The facility was never closed, illustrating the limits of executive power when Congress controls the purse strings. The order raised fundamental tensions between executive authority over military operations, congressional power of the purse, and individual liberty rights under the Fifth Amendment.