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Kansas Senators Lift Hold on McHugh for Army Secretary

Kansas Republican Sens. Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback on Wednesday dropped their holds on a handful of President Barack Obama’s executive branch nominees, including Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.) for Army secretary.The GOP duo decided to lift the hold after winning assurances from the White House that prisoners at the Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, detention facility would not be transferred to the Fort Leavenworth prison in Kansas. The move means McHugh’s nomination can finally move ahead. The nine-term Republican from upstate New York was unanimously approved by the Armed Services Committee in August. Roberts and Brownback met last week with administration officials to explain “the severe impact— that a transfer of detainees to Fort Leavenworth would have. “We believe that the Administration has a good understanding of obstacles and concerns and is giving them proper consideration,— the Senators said in a joint statement. “In a good faith effort to continue moving this dialogue forward, we are releasing our holds on all Department of Defense and Department of Justice nominees. We are confident that because of this good faith dialogue, detainees will not be transferred to Fort Leavenworth.—

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