An attempt to change the U.S. military's culture toward sexual assault was struck down in the Senate on Tuesday when Carl Levin, D-Mich., removed a measure intending to change the way sexual assault cases are tried within the military from a defense spending bill, according to The New York Times.

In an effort to encourage more victims of sexual assault to come forward and report their crimes the measure would take away the power of prosecuting said crimes from commanding officers and instead give it to military prosecutors. The measure was proposed by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., had 27 co-sponsors including four Republicans.

Levin, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, will replace Gillibrand's measure with one that sets up a system where a senior military officer will review any sexual assault cases that are not prosecuted by commanding officers. Currently sexual assault cases are dealt with by the commanding officer and victims may fear retribution for reporting assaults, according to The New York Times.

The system of dealing with sexual assault within the military will still be changed by Levin's measure, although it is seen as not going far enough by some Senators including Barbara Boxer, D-Cali.

"They basically embrace the status quo here," Boxer said. "It's outrageous."

Military commanders have been reluctant to change the current system for dealing with sexual assault because they contend that it will disrupt the chain of command and undermine the authority of superior officers if independent prosecutors try sexual assault cases.

"Without equivocation, I believe maintaining the central role of the commander in our military justice system is absolutely critical," Gen. Ray Odierno, the Army's Chief of Staff said in a Congressional hearing last week. "Removing commanders, making commanders less responsible, less accountable, will not work. It will hamper the delivery of justice to the people we most want to help." 

A Pentagon report that estimated 26,000 sexual assaults occurred within the military last year. Since the report has come to light Congress has been trying to find a way to solve the issue. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of the most outspoken supporters of the military recently said that he could not recommend that a woman join the armed forces until real changes are made.

Many in Congress believe that the military has shown that they are unable to handle such cases and the matter needs to be taken out of their hands. Sen. Susan Collins, R- Maine, told Bloomberg that she believes that military is too resistant to change to fix the problem on their own.

"There's no doubt in my mind that we need to have legislative changes," Collins said. "There have been legitimate issues that have been raised over which bill is the best approach, but we can't just leave this up to the military. The military has shown, sadly, that it is incapable of solving this problem or even making significant progress."