Obama's nominees have been held up by McCaskill and Gillibrand. | AP Photos Push for women in defense jobs stalls

President Barack Obama’s push to put more women in top national security jobs has hit a wall — one put up by women in his own party.

The administration is in a stalemate with two key Senate Democrats over proposed reforms to the way the military handles sexual assault and other major crimes. Critics say that commanders have shown they can’t be trusted to guarantee justice for victims, especially when they use their authority to vacate the courts-martial of subordinates who’ve been duly tried and convicted.


Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan Helms did just that before Obama nominated her to become the number two leader at Air Force Space Command. So an angry Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, who has been pushing for reform, placed a hold on Helms’ nomination back in May — and kept it there.

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On Thursday, Obama officially withdrew Helms’s nomination. An Air Force spokeswoman said Helms has applied for retirement.

The situation doesn’t look much better for Jo Ann Rooney, Obama’s embattled pick to become the next undersecretary of the Navy.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand told reporters on Wednesday that her hold on the nomination would be all but permanent, the result of written answers that Rooney submitted earlier this fall to the Senate Armed Services Committee in which she suggested it wasn’t a good idea to base decisions to prosecute sexual assault cases on evidence alone.

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McCaskill’s and Gillibrand’s roadblocks are an unusual twist in the sexual assault dilemma, which many Democrats say would be better handled if there were more women serving in high-ranking military positions.

“Until we have women at higher ranks in the military, that are in the room, I think we’re going to continue to see men in leadership positions who do not respect when a woman says no and means no,” said Ana Cruz, a Tampa-based Democratic strategist who worked as Hillary Clinton’s Florida spokeswoman in the 2008 presidential primaries.

Obama did consider nominating women for two top Cabinet posts on this front — secretaries of Defense and State — before ultimately picking Chuck Hagel and John Kerry. He’s also added Susan Rice as his second term National Security Adviser and placed Samantha Power at the United Nations as U.S. Ambassador. Obama has also nominated another woman, defense industry executive Deborah Lee James, to become the next secretary of the Air Force.

Behind the scenes, White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett has kept working to advance the president’s goal of bolstering the ranks of women in the upper echelons of a defense establishment long dominated by male leaders and wracked in recent years by a series of sexual assault scandals.

But a vocal cadre of women in the Senate have shown they won’t accept any woman.

“It is a paradox that women nominees are being held up over the issue of sexual assault,” said defense consultant Loren Thompson. “It shows the issue is more about values than about gender.”

Helms’ nomination sank over her February 2012 decision to grant clemency to an Air Force captain convicted in a court-martial of aggravated sexual assault against a female lieutenant. A staff judge advocate had recommended to Helms that she uphold the conviction, according to background information on the case provided by McCaskill’s office —but Helms let the man off the hook.

“With her action, Lt. Gen. Helms sent a damaging message to survivors of sexual assault,” McCaskill said of her decision to block the nomination.

Gillibrand’s problems with Rooney began with written testimony she submitted to the Senate Armed Services Committee that questioned Gillibrand’s proposal to authorize military lawyers — not commanders — to decide whether to prosecute allegations of sexual assault and other major military crimes.

“A judge advocate outside the chain of command will be looking at a case through a different lens than a military commander,” Rooney wrote. “I believe the impact would be decisions based on evidence rather than the interest in preserving good order and discipline. I believe this will result in fewer prosecutions and therefore defeat the very problem that I understand it seeks to address.”

In a follow-up letter to the Senate committee, Rooney said commanders must weigh the evidence and additional factors, such as “the offense’s effect on morale, health, safety, welfare and discipline.”

Gillibrand is expected to get a Senate vote on her chain-of-command proposal as early as next week during floor debate on the annual defense authorization bill.

That roll call is expected to be close. Even though McCaskill and Gillibrand are allies against sexual assault, they are divided on just how far the military should go to crack down.

McCaskill and Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin are lobbying senators to oppose Gillibrand’s amendment. Instead, they are advocating the current version of the Senate’s defense authorization bill, which makes dozens of other changes to the Pentagon’s sexual assault policies, including making it a crime to retaliate against victims and taking away commanders’ ability to overturn jury convictions.

McCaskill’s office declined comment on Helms’ withdrawn nomination, pointing to her previous statements. Asked Wednesday if the outcome of the Senate vote on Gillibrand’s amendment would be enough to end her hold on Rooney, several senators replied that they still wouldn’t be satisfied.

“I think her testimony is prohibitive at this point,” Gillibrand said.

Sen. Barbara Boxer went further — Rooney’s testimony “sickened me,” Boxer said.

“I’m shocked by what she said and given the chance to retract it, she did not,” the California Democrat said. “Who wants to put someone in a position of power who thinks it’s just fine to ignore the evidence in a sexual assault case?”

Rooney’s testimony “reflects a view of criminal justice that is unprofessional,” added Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

“The mantra is make the decision on the facts and the evidence, not on your personal predilection, not on any other factors, and leave the sentencing to the judge,” he said.

Obama continues to stand by Rooney, who served as acting under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness from November 2011 to June 2012.

“The president believes Dr. Rooney is a highly qualified candidate for this important position with the United States Navy and looks forward to seeing her confirmed by the Senate,” said White House spokeswoman Jamie Smith.

And at the Pentagon on Friday, press secretary George Little said he hoped senators would focus on the bigger picture.

“We hope that our nominees are looked at for the broad expanse of their experience and views on the issues,” he said.