Obama says the administration will continue working with Congress to address the issue. W.H. sets deadline on assault reform

President Barack Obama gave the Pentagon an ultimatum Friday: Clean up its act on sexual assault over the next year, or get ready for some big changes that military leaders have long resisted.

It’s a safe move for the White House, giving the brass room to keep working on the high-profile issue without setting up an immediate and direct confrontation.


But it also leaves Obama with a critical decision just after the 2014 mid-terms, and he could still follow the well-worn path he’s taken in bucking the generals on gays in the military and putting women into combat roles. Even if the military isn’t ready for social change, the commander in chief can order it.

( Also on POLITICO: Senate sends defense bill to Obama)

On sexual assault, Obama will soon sign into law a defense authorization bill that requires more than two dozen reforms to Pentagon policy. No longer will commanders have the authority to overturn jury convictions or reduce sentences. Military members convicted of a sexual crime will be discharged or dismissed. Victims are also about to get new legal protections and counseling after they report a crime.

In a statement released Friday morning, Obama directed Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Martin Dempsey to immediately get to work implementing the law’s provisions, giving them until Dec. 1, 2014, to “make substantial improvements with respect to sexual assault prevention and response, including to the military justice system.”

“If I do not see the kind of progress I expect, then we will consider additional reforms that may be required to eliminate this crime from our military ranks and protect our brave service members who stand guard for us every day at home and around the world,” Obama said.

Obama’s statement also name-checked Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill, two Democratic female senators who have been spearheading the sexual assault debate this year while sharply disagreeing over whether to remove the commander from prosecution decisions.

For Gillibrand, Obama’s warning to the military that he may push for more changes offers the best public signal yet for where the president stands on her campaign to overhaul Pentagon’s World War II-era military justice system.

( Also on POLITICO: Six questions for Obama)

The New Yorker has already won over more than half the Senate, including tea party leaders like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz and Majority Leader Harry Reid. But she’s also faced fierce resistance from Hagel, Dempsey and many other Pentagon leaders. And the White House, until now, had remained silent.

Gillibrand, who spoke to Obama about the sexual assault issue Thursday, issued a statement welcoming the president’s “deep commitment to solving the sexual assault crisis in the military.”

But she also said she would still push for a Senate floor vote early in 2014.

“I do not want to wait another year to enact the one reform survivors have asked for in removing commanders with no legal training and conflicts of interest from the decision of whether or not to prosecute a rape or sexual assault,” Gillibrand said. “We have the best fighting force in the world and they deserve a first class justice system.”

McCaskill, a Missouri moderate, said Obama “should be commended for treating this scourge with the seriousness it deserves, and for fully backing the historic, comprehensive reforms we pushed across the finish line last night.”

“I agree with him that we should give these significant reforms the time they need to succeed,” McCaskill added. “And I too, plan to spend the next year holding commanders accountable, and ensuring that these historic reforms are implemented forcefully and effectively.”

But McCaskill is a long way from linking up with Gillibrand’s effort. In an interview with POLITICO earlier this week, McCaskill said the reforms in this year’s defense bill are what’s needed to solve a problem that has plagued the Pentagon for decades. “The shiny object of the disagreement over one part of this policy needs to fade,” she said.

Key House members at the center of the sexual assault debate also argue that the Pentagon should get some time to implement this year’s reforms.

“If the DoD rises to the occasion and implements this in a way that does fix the problems that it’s targeted, I think that’ll answer whether or not another approach is necessary,” Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) said in an interview. “Until that occurs, it’d be incredibly premature to create a whole new system, when the problems that were identified we believe were being fixed by this legislation.

“Now if DoD fails in its implementation, then obviously we have to look at something else,” Turner added.

Turner’s partner on the issue, Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.), said she also wanted to give the Defense Department some room to enact the historic changes that Congress ordered up in this year’s bill.

“I do think the services still have a ways to go to make the case that their good order and discipline is dependent on retaining their disposition authority,” she said. “I don’t think that has been achieved quite yet. But I also think we’ve put many more tools in the tool box that they should put to good use and by doing so demonstrate their willingness and ability to deal with this issue in a substantive way.”

Tsongas added that she’d be keeping tabs on the work of an expert outside panel studying the sexual assault issue that was ordered up in last year’s defense bill. The group, led by retired federal judge Barbara Jones, plans to issue recommendations to Hagel by June.

In a prepared statement, Hagel said the defense law headed to Obama’s desk would “provide much-needed authorities that will help strengthen our sexual assault prevention and response efforts, and we are committed to implementing them effectively and without delay.”

“Eliminating sexual assault in the military is one of DoD’s highest priorities,” Hagel added. “We welcome President Obama’s continued leadership on this issue, and we share his commitment to doing whatever it takes to solve this problem.”

The Pentagon is already busy working on the issue. In November, it cited data showing a nearly 50 percent increase in sexual assault complaints – including both civilians on service members and service members on civilians — in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2013. Defense Department officials said the increase stemmed from victims who are feeling more comfortable coming forward to report sexual assaults thanks to reforms it has instituted.

Hagel and Dempsey will have several new people in place next year to work on the defense bill’s requirements. Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James got confirmed by the Senate earlier this month, and a vote is expected soon for Jessica Wright to be the under secretary of Defense for personnel and readiness. Major Gen. Jeffrey Snow also takes over in January as head of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office.

Military sexual assault-related court proceedings are also sure to keep the issue in the spotlight, with two high-profile cases next month. Arguments start Jan. 7 at Fort Bragg in a case against Army Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair, only the third Army general in a half century to face a court martial. And the first of two former Navy football players accused of rape goes to court martial Jan. 27.