The Obama administration has reached the final stages of drafting a plan to close Guantanamo Bay, White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters Thursday.
In January 2009, President Obama issued an executive order that directed the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to be closed within a year, an order that was not fulfilled and has given way to a tedious effort by the administration to shutter the detention facility.
The New York Times reported Tuesday that the president’s national security adviser, Susan Rice, recently held a "principals committee" meeting of cabinet members to explore how to ensure the prison’s closure before Obama leaves office at the start of 2017.
Defense Secretary Ashton Carter reportedly did not make decisions during the meeting regarding newly proposed deals to transfer detainees at the prison.