The federal government is preparing to automatically register all eligible men between the ages of 18 and 25 into the U.S. military draft pool by December, eliminating a self-registration process that has been in place for more than four decades. The Selective Service System submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30 to implement the change, which is currently under review and awaiting finalization.

The shift was mandated last December when President Donald Trump signed the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act into law. The legislation directs the Selective Service System — the quasi-independent agency that maintains the database of draft-eligible Americans — to handle registration through integration with existing federal data sources rather than relying on individual men to sign themselves up.

"This statutory change transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources," the agency's website states. "SSS will implement the change by December 2026, resulting in a streamlined registration process and corresponding workforce realignment."

The United States has not activated a military draft since 1973, during the final years of the Vietnam War. Reinstating conscription would require Congress to amend the Military Selective Service Act and the president to authorize inductions — a step no administration has taken in more than half a century.

What Changes — and What Doesn't

Under the current system, nearly all male U.S. citizens and male immigrants between 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday. Late registration is accepted until age 26. The process is handled through an online form, by mail, or — in 46 states and territories — automatically when men apply for driver's licenses or state identification cards.

Compliance has been declining. The Selective Service reported to Congress that registration rates fell from 84 percent in 2023 to 81 percent in 2024. Part of that drop was attributed to the removal of the registration option from federal student loan applications in 2022 under the FAFSA Simplification Act, which had previously accounted for nearly a quarter of all registrations.

The new rule will not change who is required to register. Women remain ineligible, despite several attempts by lawmakers in recent years to attach provisions mandating their inclusion to annual defense policy bills. Those measures were stripped out before final votes each time.

Men will be automatically enrolled within 30 days of their 18th birthday and will receive written notice that they have been registered, along with information on how to contest their registration if they fall into an exempt category. Exemptions include men who were hospitalized or incarcerated from age 18 through 25, those who maintained lawful nonimmigrant status during that period, and those who served continuously in the military between those ages. Disabled men who would not qualify for service are still required to be registered.

The Cost Argument

The automatic registration process was championed as a cost-saving measure. The Selective Service System operates on a budget of roughly $31.3 million per year, a significant portion of which goes toward outreach and advertising to encourage voluntary compliance.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, a Pennsylvania Democrat who sponsored the automatic registration language in the defense authorization bill, argued the change would allow the agency to redirect resources. "This will also allow us to rededicate resources — basically that means money — towards readiness and towards mobilization, rather than towards education and advertising campaigns driven to register people," she said when the provision was being debated.

The legislative push for automatic registration was bipartisan and predated the current conflict with Iran. Documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests show that the proposal was initially drafted during the Biden administration by Jacob Daniels, a Selective Service System official who had previously served as Trump's 2016 Oregon state campaign director and remained at the agency.

The Iran War Shadow

The timing of the proposed rule — submitted roughly a month after the United States and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28 — has heightened public attention to a bureaucratic change that might otherwise have drawn little notice.

Questions about the draft were put directly to the White House in March. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that a draft is "not part of the current plan right now" but added that President Trump "wisely keeps his options on the table." Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave a similarly open-ended answer on 60 Minutes, saying, "You don't tell the enemy, you don't tell the press, you don't tell anybody what your limits would be on an operation."

Those responses drew sharp reactions, including from within Trump's own political base. Former Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was among those who pushed back forcefully. During the 2024 campaign, Trump himself had used the specter of a draft as a political weapon against Democratic rival Kamala Harris. "She wants to bring back the draft, and draft your child, and put them in a war that should never have happened," he told supporters at a rally in Las Vegas.

A week before Election Day, he told another crowd in Atlanta: "All of your sons and daughters will end up getting a draft notice."

To date, 13 U.S. service members have been killed in the conflict with Iran. A two-week ceasefire took effect April 7, and Vice President JD Vance departed for Islamabad on Friday to lead peace talks. Trump posted on Truth Social this week that all U.S. military assets would remain in the region until a final agreement is fully implemented, adding that if compliance falls short, "then the 'Shootin' Starts,' bigger, and better, and stronger than anyone has ever seen before."

What It Would Take to Actually Draft Someone

Automatic registration does not mean a draft is imminent or even likely. The Selective Service System exists to maintain readiness in the event of a national emergency, but activating conscription requires an act of Congress amending the Military Selective Service Act, followed by presidential authorization.

If a draft were activated, the system would use a national lottery based on randomly drawn birthdates. Men whose 20th birthdays fell during the year of the lottery would be called first, followed by 21-year-olds, then those aged 22 through 25, and finally 18- and 19-year-olds. Inductees would report for medical and administrative screening before entering military service. The Department of Defense requires the Selective Service to deliver the first inductees within 193 days of authorization.

Failing to register — whether under the old self-registration system or the new automatic process — remains a felony carrying a fine of up to $250,000 and up to five years in prison. Non-registrants can also be denied federal student financial aid, government employment at the federal, state, and local levels, and, for immigrants, U.S. citizenship. In practice, the penalty has rarely been prosecuted.

The proposed rule is now with the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which has up to 90 days to review it. Once approved, it must be published as a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register with a public comment period before finalization. The Selective Service System has set December 2026 as its target for full implementation.