Obama makes a statement about his plan to close the detention camp at the Guantánamo Bay in Roosevelt Room at the White House on Tuesday. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Congressional Republicans’ immediate rejection of an Obama administration plan to close the Guantánamo Bay military prison means yet another part of the president's legacy could be decided by the courts.
Unable to convince a GOP-run Congress to support his plan and short on time to make good on his pledge to shutter the terrorist detention facility, Obama's last option is to go it alone. And given recent history, that’s why experts expect the lawsuits to begin.
President Obama speaks in the White House’s Roosevelt Room on Tuesday about his plan to close the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, military prison. He was joined by Defense Secretary Ashton Cater (right), with a painting of former President Theodore Roosevelt on horseback behind them. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama on Tuesday delivered a passionate call for Congress to give his plan to close the Guantánamo Bay military prison a “fair hearing,” casting the terrorist detention center as a hindrance to national security.
Even before Obama spoke about the plan , Republican lawmakers dubbed it “illegal” and made clear it has almost no chance of being enacted. But Obama ended his remarks with a defiant tone.
Carson speaks to the media before a Nov. 6 gala for the Black Republican Caucus of South Florida in Palm Beach Gardens. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Whether Ben Carson fudged a bit on that offer of a "full scholarship" to West Point or it's a question of "semantics," as he told reporters on Nov. 6, it wouldn't be the first time a politician misrepresented their military experience.
The West Point story is a central one to Carson's narrative. He has said for years he was offered a "full scholarship" to the military academy — but admitted last week he was encouraged to apply, but hadn't received an official invitation nor did he apply.
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