Eligible men in the United States will be entered automatically into the Selective Service database by December, replacing the long-standing system that required most of them to register on their own and marking the biggest overhaul of draft registration in decades.
Rule Change Moves Toward December Rollout
First reported by the Department of War’s Stars and Stripes publication on Tuesday, the new step is still moving through the rulemaking process. The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs lists the Selective Service proposal as under review after its March 30 submission, and the agency says implementation is set for December 2026.
Under current law, almost all male U.S. citizens and male immigrants ages 18 through 25 must register, though a draft itself is not active.
Law Shifts Burden From Enlistees To Agency
The Selective Service System, the independent agency that keeps records of men who could be called up in a national emergency, says the change was mandated in the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act signed on Dec. 18, 2025, and is intended to streamline the process and cut costs.
The agency says the law “transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources.”
The United States has not used the draft since 1973, when the country shifted to an all-volunteer force. Registration was later suspended, then restored in 1980 after President Jimmy Carter reinstated it.
Iran War Revives Draft Debate Questions
Questions about whether a draft could return have intensified during the war in Iran, now in a fragile two-week ceasefire. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in March that a draft was “not part of the current plan right now,” but added that President Donald Trump “wisely keeps his options on the table.”
Still, Trump cannot revive the draft by executive action alone. The Selective Service says Congress would first need to amend the Military Selective Service Act to authorize induction.
It is worth noting that failure to register remains a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 and can also block access to state-funded student aid and jobs in many states, most federal jobs, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act training and U.S. citizenship for some immigrant men.
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