“Consensus” is not a word you hear much in the United States Senate these days. But a bill aimed at reforming the military justice system and preventing sexual assault has 66 co-sponsors, chief among them Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY). After nearly a decade of political legwork, the bill finds itself in the increasingly rare position of having a glide path to becoming law.
But even measures with surefire support can still be doomed to political infighting. Officially known as the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, the bill faces a challenge from within the Democratic Party. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, has resisted quick passage of something that falls under his jurisdiction. Reed prefers that the bill go through hearings in his committee and get attached to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), a must-pass policy measure typically handled at the end of the year. That adds months of delay to something with the votes to pass now, which has been through years of vetting and study.
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