The Obama administration is drafting a new plan to shut down the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Defense One reported on Thursday based on comments by Arizona Sen. John McCain.

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee told the publication that he has been in talks with the White House and proposed an outline for the closure of the Cuba-based prison camp that could win support in the Republican-majority Congress.

In recent weeks, McCain hosted Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Lisa Monaco, the president's assistant for homeland security and counterterrorism, at his office to discuss the administration's options; he also had a direct conversation with President Barack Obama, Defense One revealed.

McCain has long voiced support for closing the camp at Guantánamo Bay Naval Base, which continues to house some 120 detainees, according to CBS News.

In a joint statement with California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Democrat who chairs of the Senate Intelligence committee, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee said as early as 2013 that such a shutdown would be beneficial to U.S. national security, the Guardian recalled.

"We continue to believe that it is in our national interest to end detention at Guantánamo, with a safe and orderly transition of the detainees to other locations," the senators insisted. "We intend to work, with a plan by Congress and the administration together, to take the steps necessary to make that happen."

Last year, McCain noted that opposition to the closure within his own party could be overcome with the right strategy, according to CNN.

If the Obama administration "went to the members of the (Senate Armed Services Committee) today and said, 'Look, (the detainees) are going to be moved to a maximum-security prison in some location in the United States of America, and we have a plan for that transfer - I think most of them would be perfectly happy about that," McCain told the news channel.

Despite the new collaboration between McCain administration officials, however, the White House reiterated a threat to veto his committee's annual defense authorization bill, which notes that Congress would grant Obama the authority to close Guantánamo if he submitted a plan to do so that gained lawmakers' approval.

The administration on Tuesday deemed that requirement "unnecessary and overly restrictive," Defense One noted based on a policy statement.