President Barack Obama's pledge to close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay is meeting resistance from lawmakers who do not like the idea of housing foreign terrorism suspects in the US.
His January 22 promise seemed simple enough - announce a date for closing the detention centre at a US Naval base on Cuba, and then work out arrangements for making that happen before the deadline he set for next January.
But some in his own Democratic Party and many opposition Republicans are insisting they do not want any of the 240 prisoners at Guantanamo brought to American soil.
The unfolding drama is a classic "not in my backyard" debate that is testing Mr Obama's negotiating skills as he seeks to keep his attention on rebuilding the US economy.
"I think that the people who have been held in Guantanamo are being charged essentially for acts of international terror, for acts of war, and they don't belong in (our) judicial system, and they don't belong in our jails," said Democratic Senator Jim Webb of Virginia on Sunday on ABC's This Week.
The debate over Guantanamo takes place in a politically charged environment as Washington attempts to turn the page on George W. Bush's legacy.
Mr Obama, who took office in January, vowed to close the prison which was set up to house foreign suspects after the hijacked plane attacks on the US on September 11, 2001.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Monday that Mr Obama was still committed to closing the facility and was confident his timetable could be met.
Mr Obama was criticised last week by his supporters on the left and by human rights groups for changing his mind and deciding not to release photographs said to depict detainee abuse, and for reviving Bush's policy of military commissions to try terrorism suspects. In addition, the most powerful woman in Washington, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is under fire over what she knew when about Bush-era interrogation policies, such as waterboarding.
Ms Pelosi accused the CIA of lying in response to a CIA report that said she had been briefed in 2002 on interrogation methods that she now condemns but did not at the time. A fellow Democrat, CIA Director Leon Panetta, rejected her charges.
"Shadows of the Bush Presidency are beginning to fall on the Obama Presidency," said Larry Sabato, a political science professor at the University of Virginia. "These leftover controversies are proving to be thorny ones for Mr Obama, Ms Pelosi and the Democrats."
Mr Obama today will make his case for his national security policies in a speech that the White House said would address the issues of Guantanamo Bay and anti-terror tactics.
An essential element in closing the Guantanamo prison is the €58.9 million Mr Obama requested to accomplish it. But it has sparked fierce criticism and bipartisan calls for him to submit a plan on the fate of the prisoners before getting the funds.
The House of Representatives approved a bill last week that rejected the money request and would bar releasing detainees into the US through September 30.
It further bans moving them to US soil for detention or prosecution until two months after Mr Obama submits a report to Congress that addresses his rationale and assesses the risks of the moves.