Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) stands with his mother Carolyn and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on the day of his swearing-in.
Sunday, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand committed to
stay with her original military sexual assault bill, which gives prosecutors, not commanders, control over prosecution decisions about all major crimes committed by members of the military; last week, she had
floated the idea of narrowing the bill to only apply to sexual assault. That change was suggested in hopes of picking up the votes of undecided senators, but Gillibrand continued to express confidence that her fight to get 60 votes for the Military Justice Improvement Act would be successful. Monday, the plan picked up the support of the newest senator, raising the number of public supporters to 48:
I’m joining as cosponsor of @SenGillibrand amendment because I believe it offers best protection for survivors of assault
— @CoryBooker
One of the key questions on the bill's future is whether Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will decide to support it. Reid has said he will meet with both representatives from the Pentagon and victims before making a final decision; he's also facing tricky
internal politics:
Nearly three-quarters of Senate Democrats support Gillibrand’s measure, including every female Democratic senator except McCaskill.
But Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and senior members of the committee disagree with her proposed overhaul of the military’s judicial system. Pentagon leaders are also staunchly opposed to the measure.
“Committee leadership usually gets a lot of deference on one side, but then you have clearly a majority of your caucus in opposition to those folks on the other side, so it creates a tough dynamic for him,” a Senate aide working on the issue said.
While the pressures from the Pentagon and from some senior Democrats may push Reid to preserve the status quo, hopefully not only the counter-pressures from the majority of his caucus but the fact that the status quo is an ongoing, damaging failure will persuade him to support real efforts to curb military sexual assault.