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When 60+ votes isn’t enough in the Senate

Political Theater, Episode 206

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., left, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, conduct a news conference outside the Capitol to discuss the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, which would remove serious crime prosecution out of the chain of command, on April 29, 2021.
Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., left, and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, conduct a news conference outside the Capitol to discuss the Military Justice Improvement and Increasing Prevention Act, which would remove serious crime prosecution out of the chain of command, on April 29, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)
By Jason Dick, Megan Scully and Evan Campbell
Posted June 24, 2021 at 1:19pm

Why does something that seems pretty commonsense and has wide bipartisan support get stalled in the Senate? A case study is the current debate over how to address military sexual assault, an issue the Pentagon has grappled with for years.

Over those years, New York Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has built support for legislation to overhaul the military justice system to address this, and she recently hit a high-water mark, with more than 60 colleagues supporting the effort. But the legislation isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

CQ Roll Call senior editor Megan Scully, who has covered the issue for years, joins us on this episode of Political Theater to discuss why.

Show Notes:

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