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Eric Fanning Confirmed as Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning Confirmed as Secretary of the Army
(about 3 hours later)
WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Eric K. Fanning on Tuesday to be the next secretary of the Army, making him the highest-ranking openly gay official ever at the Pentagon. WASHINGTON — The Senate confirmed Eric K. Fanning on Tuesday as secretary of the Army, making him the highest-ranking openly gay official ever at the Pentagon.
Although he has not served in the military, Mr. Fanning, 47, has held high-ranking posts across the services, including as Air Force under secretary and deputy under secretary of the Navy. The voice vote ended a confirmation process that had been delayed for months by a Republican senator who wanted assurances that detainees from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, would not be sent to his state.
Senator Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, had been holding up the nomination for months, insisting that the Obama administration assure him that it would not move detainees from Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to Fort Leavenworth, Kan. But as the senator, Pat Roberts of Kansas, explained how his concerns had been resolved, one of his statements indicated that the administration does not believe it will be able to close the prison before President Obama leaves office.
In a short statement on the Senate floor, Mr. Roberts said that the deputy defense secretary, Robert O. Work, had assured him during a meeting a week ago that the detainees would not be moved to Leavenworth because “the clock has run out.” Mr. Roberts said on the Senate floor that he had been assured last week by the deputy defense secretary, Robert O. Work, that Mr. Obama would not move Guantánamo detainees to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., because “the clock has run out.”
Administration officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Mr. Roberts’s account of the meeting, or on whether Mr. Work’s remarks amounted to an official acknowledgment that President Obama will not be able to close the prison before he leaves office in January. But there have been signs that time was running out. In a statement, Mr. Work said he had made clear to Mr. Roberts that “we have not taken any location off the table for relocating Guantánamo detainees.” Still, Mr. Work acknowledged that there was “limited time left” to gain Congress’s support for the administration’s plan to close the prison.
The administration said in February that every potential site for housing Guantánamo detainees that the government had studied would need substantial construction work, at an estimated cost of $290 million to $475 million. There have been signs that time is short. The administration said in February that every potential site the government had studied for housing Guantánamo detainees would need substantial construction work. No contracts have been put out in the three months since then, because Congress has banned bringing detainees into the United States or spending any money to modify a prison to accommodate them.
Three months have passed since then, and no contracts for the work have been put out. That is because Congress has banned bringing detainees into the United States or spending any money to modify a prison to accommodate them. Lawmakers have shown no appetite for lifting that ban before Mr. Obama, who vowed eight years ago to close Guantánamo, leaves office. Mr. Fanning, 47, has held high-ranking posts across the armed services, including as Air Force under secretary and deputy under secretary of the Navy. He has also served as chief of staff to Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter.