Goodbye Gitmo: President Barack Obama is expected to issue executive orders today to close the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay within a year, and to shut down the CIA’s network of secret prisons. The 245 detainees still held at Guantanamo will require immediate reviews to determine whether they should be prosecuted, released, or transferred, reports the NYT.
Holder Hold-up: As reported yesterday by Legal Times, Senate Republicans opted to delay for one week a Judiciary committee vote on Eric Holder Jr.’s nomination to be attorney general. They claim they had insufficient time to examine Holder’s record.
Take Two: Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. paid a visit to the White House last night to readminister the oath of office to Obama, reports the WaPo. It was a precautionary measure, since the pair flubbed the precise wording of the oath on Inauguration Day. Legal Times' Tony Mauro reported early this morning that "the constitutional cloud, if there was one, has dissipated."
Unsupervised: After a review of government records, the WaPo reports that dozens of banks have escaped federal regulatory action since 2000 by moving away from their federal regulators, and instead moving under state oversight.
That Obama is making good on the Gitmo promise is vital for Americans because it revives our image and gives people confidence he'll follow through on his promises.
Posted by: JT | January 22, 2009 at 10:23 AM