President Obama’s high-profile pledge to shut Guantánamo Bay was shot down by his own party today when Senate Democrats voted to block the transfer of detainees and refused to pay for the closure.

The blow is the latest setback for the Obama Administration, which has already disappointed supporters by announcing that controversial military tribunals for detainees, set up by President Bush but halted by Mr Obama on taking office, will be re-started.

Senators denied the request for $80 million to move the 240 detainees from the US military base in Cuba. They also voted 90 to six to prevent the Administration from transferring any of the facility’s prisoners to the US.

The administration put its Democratic allies in a difficult spot by requesting the Guantanamo closure money before developing a plan for what to do with its detainees.

Harry Reid, the Democrat Majority Leader, insisted that none of Guantánamo’s detainees should be sent to the US to stand trial or serve prison sentences.

“We don’t want them around,” he said. “I can’t make it any more clear. . . We will never allow terrorists to be released in the United States.”

The Senate block, echoing a similar move by the House of Representatives, threatens to paralyse the Obama Administration’s key pledge to shut down the military camp by January. Congress's attitude may force the detention facility to remain in operation indefinitely.

The snub to the Administration follows a sustained Republican effort to overturn Obama’s executive order to close Guantánamo Bay. Mitch McConnell, Minority Leader and Republican senator for Kentucky, said: “Guantánamo is the perfect place for these terrorists.”

Some Democrats and moderate Republicans, including Senator John McCain, agree that it is time to close the facility, where detainees can be held for years without being charged, but claim that the closure plan has been bungled.

Mr McCain said: “The lack of a comprehensive, well-thought-out plan led to a predictable political backlash on Guantánamo. . . Instead of unifying Americans behind a plan that keeps us safe and honours our values, the Administration’s course of action has unified the opposition to moving forward and move forward we must.”

Under the separation of powers outlined in the US Constitution, Congress has control over almost all government spending. Thus, it can stop virtually any programme by refusing to provide money to carry it out.

Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, said the President would outline “a hefty part” of his plans for Guantánamo detainees tomorrow.

A key segment of the Justice Department’s plan has been to send many detainees abroad, but if Congress were to bar detainees from being transported to the United States, even for trial, it would become much more difficult to persuade other countries to accept them.

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