A group of Republicans senators have begun pressuring President Trump to expand the powers and use of of detention facility Guantanamo Bay, a direct contradiction to the office’s treatment of the facility for the last eight years.
Eleven Republicans being led by Kansas Senator Jerry Moran are urging the administration to expand the use of the facility while also suspending review processes put in place by the Obama administration.
The Trump administration is currently looking into various executive orders pertaining to national security, and Senate Republicans are hoping that the president will add one expanding Gitmo to the giant pile of EO’s already signed by this president in his first three weeks.
“We want to express our support for maintaining and expanding the utilization of the detention facility during your administration by detaining current and future enemy combatants who pose a threat to our national security,” the senators write.
Trump will likely support the expansion of Guantanamo bay, particularly as it helps him expand the renewed war on terror. This is a direct turnaround from the previous administration as President Obama tried for his eight years in office to get the facility closed.
The President has said many times before that he would expand the use of advanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding, practices that are considered by military and intelligence experts to be classified as torture. Trump has said in recent weeks that he intends to respect the wishes of General James Mattis and keep torture out of the U.S.’s vocabulary.
Still, even Mattis supports the use of Guantanamo bay and during the Obama administration, called on Congress to halt the president’s release of a group of detainees.
Currently, the facility houses just 41 detainees thanks to Obama’s efforts.
