President Obama sent his plan to close the Guantanamo prison to Capitol Hill, where it was met with immediate condemnation. (Jason Aldag,Julie Vitkovskaya/The Washington Post) 
 
 President Obama sent his plan to close the Guantanamo prison to Capitol Hill, where it was met with immediate condemnation. (Jason Aldag,Julie Vitkovskaya/The Washington Post) 
 
 President Obama urged lawmakers on Tuesday to help him close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, making his case for a White House plan to shutter a detention facility he said symbolizes excesses that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. 
 
 “This is about closing a chapter in our history,” said Obama, flanked by Vice President Biden and Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter, in remarks at the White House. “It reflects the lessons that we’ve learned since 9/11, lessons that need to guide our nation going forward.” 
 
 [Read: Obama’s plan to close Guantanamo] 
 
 Obama’s blueprint, which added some detail to earlier White House plans to move as many as 60 prisoners to the United States for trial or continued detention, was met with immediate condemnation from Capitol Hill. 
 
 Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of the few senior Republicans who has expressed openness to closing the detention center, said the nine-page plan failed to address basic questions. In a statement, McCain said Obama had “missed a major chance” to build support for closing the prison before he steps down in January. 
 
 
 
 
 
 “What we received today is a vague menu of options, not a credible plan for closing Guantanamo, let alone a coherent policy to deal with future terrorist detainees,” he said. 
 
 The instant rejection makes it unlikely the plan will advance in the Republican-controlled Congress, meaning Obama must use executive action and further incense his opponents if he intends to achieve one of his core national security goals. 
 
 At the heart of the debate is whether the U.S. government can securely house or try on American soil any of the 91 prisoners remaining at the prison. 
 
 [Saudi inmate repatriated as protesters mark Guantanamo milestone] 
 
 Whether Obama can make good on his long-standing promise to close Guantanamo will also shape his legacy and provide an important measure of how far he was able to go in distinguishing his presidency from that of George W. Bush, who opened the prison in 2002 and filled it with nearly 800 suspected militants. 
 
 Obama argued Tuesday that Guantanamo remains a rallying call for terrorists. 
 
 “I don’t want to pass this problem on to the next president, whoever it is,” Obama said. “If, as a nation, we don’t deal with this now, when will we deal with it?” 
 
 President Obama outlines a plan for closing the military detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. (Reuters) 
 
 To allow the closure plan to move forward, lawmakers would have to alter current laws that prohibit the administration from spending any money on bringing detainees to the United States or even making plans for doing so. 
 
 Since he took office in 2009, Obama has resettled overseas 147 Guantanamo prisoners who were deemed to pose a minimal security risk. Of the 91 remaining at the prison, 35 have been cleared for transfer to other nations. Ten more are in some stage of a slow-moving military trial process. 
 
 Previewing the closure blueprint Tuesday morning, senior Obama aides said that 30 to 60 detainees are expected to be brought to U.S. facilities if the plan is approved. In the document, the administration said it had reviewed 13 potential facilities in the United States that might be used to house detainees, but it did not name them. 
 
 If brought to the United States, some of those detainees would continue through military commissions; others might face trial in civilian courts. Early in the Obama administration, officials planned to bring a number of Guantanamo prisoners to stand trial in federal court but backed down amid political objections. 
 
 [Guantanamo population to fall below 100 for first time in 14 years] 
 
 In instances where prosecutors lack evidence or see potential evidence as problematic, other detainees, deemed too dangerous to release, would probably be detained indefinitely without trial. 
 
 Laura Pitter, senior national security counsel at Human Rights Watch, said Guantanamo has been a “blight” on the United States’ reputation worldwide. “It is well beyond time to shut it down,” she said in a statement. “But transferring some detainees to the U.S. for continued detention is not a solution. Most detainees at Guantanamo have been held there for nearly 14 years without charge or trial in clear violation of international law.” 
 
 White House officials have also tried to make a fiscal case for closing the prison. 
 
 According to the plan, it would cost between $290 million and $475 million to prepare a facility in the United States and transfer detainees there. But officials estimated that within three to five years, the lower annual costs of a U.S. facility with fewer detainees would “generate at least $335 million in net savings over 10 years and up to $1.7 billion in net savings over 20 years.” 
 
 [Afghan courts said these ex-U.S. detainees should be freed. Why weren’t they?] 
 
 It costs almost $450 million a year to operate the prison at Guantanamo. 
 
 Officials conceded that their budgetary estimates were rough, saying the lack of precision was a result of the congressional prohibition on planning for the prison’s closure. 
 
 The Obama administration must also grapple with objections from critics who argue that Guantanamo detainees are too dangerous to release. 
 
 According to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, six detainees released since Obama took office were confirmed as of July to have returned to militant activity. 
 
 Each suspected case has made the White House’s argument harder to make. On Tuesday, Spanish authorities said they had arrested a former Guantanamo inmate who they believe was involved in recruiting fighters for the Islamic State. 
 
 “President Obama’s determination to move some of the world’s most dangerous terrorists to U.S. soil is inexplicable and unacceptable,” Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement. 
 
 Obama declined to address whether he will try to close the prison even if Congress opposes his plan. For months, the president’s top advisers have hinted that the White House may try to take executive action on Guantanamo, essentially going around Congress. 
 
 While military leaders have signaled that they do not currently believe they have the authority to take steps to close the prison, the White House or the Justice Department could issue a new interpretation of existing law and instruct the Pentagon to do so. 
 
 A former senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss administration deliberations, said that ordering officials to defy Congress would require “the mother of all [Justice Department] opinions.” 
 
 The blueprint did receive support from some lawmakers, including Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), who urged fellow lawmakers to consider it. 
 
 “Let’s be clear,” Reed said in a statement. “Closing GITMO does not mean releasing anyone, setting bad guys free, or doing anything other than putting them in a highly secure prison and on trial under the right military tribunal system or legal process.” 
 
 Obama’s announcement immediately became fodder for the presidential campaign trail. On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) called for expanding Guantanamo, not closing it. 
 
 Speaking at a rally in Nevada, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) promised that, if he is elected, future captured militants will not be granted a federal court hearing. “They are going to Guantanamo, and we are going to find out everything they know,” he said. 
 
 Republican presidential candidates have already promised that if elected, they would overturn any executive action Obama has taken. 
 
 Ellen Nakashima contributed to this report. 
 
 Read more: 
 
 Former Guantanamo prisoner demands Obama close a facility meant to ‘destroy’ people 
 
 Use of psychologists at Guantanamo Bay prison reduced with general’s order ||||| President Barack Obama has chosen a high-powered Washington lawyer with extensive experience in all three branches of the government to be the State Department's special envoy for closing down the military-run prison at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. 
 
 Clifford Sloan is the pick to reopen the State Department's Office of Guantanamo Closure, shuttered since January and folded into the department's legal adviser's office when the administration, in the face of congressional obstacles, effectively gave up its attempt to close the prison. 
 
 A formal announcement of Sloan's appointment was expected Monday, according to officials briefed on the matter. They spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the appointment publicly before the formal announcement. 
 
 Sloan has served in senior government positions in both Democratic and Republican administrations and is now a partner in the Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom LLP law firm. For the past several years, he has been an informal adviser to Secretary of State John Kerry, who recommended him for the post, the officials said. 
 
 "I appreciate his willingness to take on this challenge," Kerry said in a statement. "Cliff and I share the president's conviction that Guantanamo's continued operation isn't in our security interests." 
 
 The move fulfills part of Obama's pledge last month to renew efforts to close the military-run detention center at Guantanamo. That was a major promise in his 2008 presidential campaign, but it ran aground due to opposition from congressional Republicans. 
 
 In late May, Obama lifted a self-imposed ban on transferring Guantanamo detainees to Yemen, in what was a step toward closing a prison that he said "has become a symbol around the world for an America that flouts the rule of law." He said he would name envoys at both the State Department and Pentagon to try to unblock the closure process. The Pentagon envoy position has yet to be filled. 
 
 Word of Sloan's appointment follows the Republican-controlled House's overwhelming passage Friday of a $638 billion defense bill that would block Obama from closing the detention facility. The House of Representatives acted despite a White House veto threat. 
 
 The administration cited Guantanamo's prohibitive costs and role as a recruiting tool for extremists. A hunger strike by more than 100 of the 166 prisoners protesting their conditions and indefinite confinement has prompted the fresh calls for the prison's closure. Obama is pushing to transfer 86 approved detainees to their home countries. Fifty-six of the 86 are from Yemen. 
 
 Officials said Sloan, whose diverse government experience includes clerking for liberal Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens and conservative prosecutor Kenneth Starr, would focus primarily on navigating between the administration and Congress to overcome the deep, largely partisan divide over closing Guantanamo. 
 
 "It will not be easy, but if anyone can effectively navigate the space between agencies and branches of government, it's Cliff," Kerry said. "He's someone respected by people as ideologically different as Kenneth Starr and Justice Stevens, and that's the kind of bridge-builder we need to finish this job."
– President Obama is considering overriding a congressional ban on bringing Guantanamo prisoners to the US in an effort to close the Cuban prison, the Wall Street Journal reports. Lawmakers are strongly against the move, which "would ignite a political firestorm, even if it's the best resolution for the Guantanamo problem," a law professor explains. You might recall that a previous use of executive power could soon see the president sued. But White House officials say Obama is "unwavering in his commitment" to move Gitmo's 149 inmates and close the prison's doors, something the president apparently sees as key to his legacy. What will Obama do? Well, he has two options, the Journal points out. One: He vetoes the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes the ban on transferring detainees to the US, after the midterm elections. Two: He signs the bill but argues the ban infringes on his powers as commander in chief. While officials won't say to which US facilities the prisoners would shift—the Journal reports Charleston's military brig seems likely—Obama will likely lessen the blow by moving some of the 79 detainees cleared for transfer to places outside the US; Estonia, for example, has already agreed to accept one prisoner, and other European countries are willing. That isn't likely to please many, however. The most recent Gallup poll on the issue finds 66% of Americans want Guantanamo to stay open.