WTAS: Leading Editorial Pages Agree, President “Cannot Legally Transfer Prisoners From Guantanamo To The United States”

THE POST AND COURIER, South Carolina: “Congress sent the president a military policy bill Tuesday with an unequivocal message: Do not transfer any terrorist prisoners from the Guantanamo Naval Base in Cuba to the United States. The House vote last week was a veto-proof 370-58. The Senate vote, at 91-3, was even more emphatic.” (Editorial, “Congress’ Gitmo Warning,”The Post And Courier [SC], 11/12/15)

“Mr. Obama cannot legally transfer prisoners from Guantanamo to the United States over the opposition of Congress. He should leave it to his successor to find a way to solve the thorny problem of what to do with the dangerous prisoners housed there.”(Editorial, “Congress’ Gitmo Warning,”The Post And Courier[SC], 11/12/15)

WALL STREET JOURNAL: “Another day at the office for a progressive President intent on reducing the legislative branch to a nullity. For the record, the National Defense Authorization Act this year contains an explicit congressional ban on transferring detainees to the U.S. through 2016.”(Editorial, “Obama’s Gitmo Workaround,” Wall Street Journal, 11/5/15)

“Mr. Obama’s inability to negotiate honestly with the legislature is a hallmark of his Presidency.More damaging is the precedent he is setting by making major policy changes with no more than a wave of his executive hand. Press reports note that Administration lawyers are working on legal justifications for the Gitmo order.Decision first, the law later.”(Editorial, “Obama’s Gitmo Workaround,”Wall Street Journal, 11/5/15)

DENVER POST:“Congress does have the power of the purse. If it decides… to bar ‘the use of funds provided to any department or agency .. for the transfer or release of individuals’ detained at Guantanamo to or within the U.S., then Obama should abide by the prohibitionrather than resort to a clever legal rationale that claims he can act on his own.”(Editorial, “Obama Should Drop Plan To Close Guantanamo,”The Denver Post, 11/11/15)

“Alarmingly, though, there are reports the president could act unilaterally to transfer prisoners.”(Editorial, “Obama Should Drop Plan To Close Guantanamo,”The Denver Post, 11/11/15)

NEW YORK POST:“…in his final months in office, he no longer cares.Worse is ahead. Next up:defying Congress, the law and the public by clearing the final dozens of terrorists out of Guantanamo Bayand shutting Gitmo down…”(Editorial, “Bam Pipes Down,”The New York Post, 11/7/15)

THE BOSTON HERALD:“President Obama decided to sign a bill renewing the prohibition on transferring suspected terrorist prisoners at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States or some other countries.The White House said he still wants to close the prison, which generated suspicion among Republicans that he might act on his own. That would be a terrible precedent, whether he got away with it or not. You’d think a president would accept an explicit decision of Congress that leaves no room for ambiguity. … This is hardly the time to be importing or exporting terrorists.”(Editorial, “No Time To Close Gitmo,”Boston Herald, 11/15/15)