Americas

Americas

White House waves veto threat of defense budget over detainee matters

18 November 2011 01:00 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The White House on Thursday threatened to veto a long-awaited Defense authorization bill over requirements for terrorism suspects to be detained in military installations, calling it a "legally controversial restriction of the president’s authority", APA reports.

The threat was contained in a Statement of Administration Policy from the White House Office of Management and Budget. It said the many detainee provisions in the bill "disrupt the executive branch’s ability to enforce the law and impose unwise and unwarranted restrictions on the U.S. government’s ability to aggressively combat international terrorism." It also said other provisions inject legal "uncertainty and ambiguity."

"This unnecessary, untested and legally controversial restriction of the president’s authority to defend the nation from terrorist threats would tie the hands of our intelligence and law enforcement professionals," said the statement.

The administration and Congress have tussled over the detainee provision in the bill. The White House has opposed mandatory military custody for terror suspects. The administration also opposes an indefinite ban on transferring Guantanamo detainees.