Last weekend, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl was handed over to the US following his five-year captivity by the Taliban. Reuters said Bergdahl was released in exchange for five senior insurgent leaders who had been detained in a Guantanamo Bay prison.
Bergdahl's release had been controversial to the US Congress, as several members allege that President Barack Obama had violated a law by failing to inform them about the move 30 days before the scheduled release. The lawmakers are citing a provision under the National Defense Authorization Act, CNN said.
The law in question, which was signed by Obama late last year, had allowed his administration to have additional flexibility in transferring detainees from the military prison in Cuba, but the law also requires the government to inform the Congress 30 days in advance. CNN noted that the Congress has no power to block such transfer.
Republican Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, who is on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said, "The law says they are to give us 30 days' notice. If the President thought that was unconstitutional or an invalid law, than he shouldn't have signed the bill. He knew very well that he was required by law to give us 30 days' notice and he didn't do it."
On Tuesday, Obama had told reporters present in Poland that the circumstances in Bergdahl's release required an immediate decision within his authority being the commander in chief of the country. He also emphasized that the Congress had an inkling about the plans. He said, "We have consulted with Congress for quite some time about the possibility we may have to execute a prisoner exchange. We saw an opportunity and we were concerned about his health and had cooperation from the Qataris and we seized that. It was truncated to make sure we didn't miss that opportunity."
National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden argued on behalf of the government of the necessity to be secretive about the details of Bergdahl's transfer. She added that the law has allowed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to authorize such a transfer if the impending actions that have or will be taken will mitigate the risk substantially or if such transfer was in the national security interest of the US.
