Senate Armed Services set for contentious authorization debate - Roll Call

This massive a change to the military court system is concerning...
Having resisted for roughly a decade making changes to how allegations of sexual assault crimes are handled in the military, Pentagon leaders this year, for the first time, acceded to a long-standing congressional push to overhaul the courts-martial system.

The brass agreed it was time to create special prosecutors’ offices and empower them, rather than military commanders, to decide whether sexual assault and related crimes, such as domestic abuse, should be prosecuted.

However, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the New York Democrat who chairs the Personnel Subcommittee, wants the new prosecutors’ offices to handle more crimes than that — including nearly all felonies, except for those that are military-unique, such as desertion.

Gillibrand has said she will offer an amendment to the panel’s defense authorization bill that would implement the broader change. Not every member of the committee has stated their position on the issue. But a majority of the panel has indicated backing for Gillibrand’s proposal, though at least one — Angus King, an independent from Maine —may be reconsidering, according to a recent New York Times report.