The likely next chairman of the House Judiciary Committee is spreading word of what his agenda would be if he gets the gavel, and near the top of the list is to stop the proposed closing of the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

Closing the prison has been a goal of President Obama since his presidential campaign, and he signed executive orders after he took office designed to shut down the prison within a year. That hasn’t happened, largely because of opposition on Capitol Hill.