The Selective Service System is poised to start automatic registration for the military draft in December. The last time the United States held a draft, it sent nearly 650,000 men to Vietnam, including David Blow, who is pictured monitoring a radio while on a mission in Vietnam in 1971. Photo by Staff Sgt. Mark Miranda\/5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment\/Courtesy photo\/U.S. Army<\/p>\n\n\n\n
April 9 (UPI) — The Selective Service System is set to automatically register men in the United States between the ages of 18 years and 26 years for the draft starting in December.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The agency submitted the rule on March 30 on a fast-track change, which would allow it to start automatic registration in December, based on the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, Military.com reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There have been no reports of plans to reinstate a military draft amid the current U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said last month that President Trump likes to “keep his options on the table,” but holding a draft would also require an act of Congress, after it were to issue a formal declaration of war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A military draft has not been held since toward the end of the Vietnam War in 1973.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Jimmy Carter in 1980, however, signed the Registration Under the Military Selective Service Act requiring men to register within 30 days of their 18th birthday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Failure to register is punishable by up to five years in jail or a fine of up to $250,000, but has rarely been enforced — although that could change with the new rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2024, 81% of eligible men registered with SSS, which CNBC reported was a three-percentage-point decrease from the year before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That year, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Rand Paul, R-Ky., to abolish the SSS and the draft, with both Senators called it “outdated” and unnecessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A proposal to make SSS registration automatic did not make the 2024 NDAA, and Wyden and Paul’s bill did not make it out of committee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Democrat U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-Penn., said that the language in the House version of the 2025 NDAA had broad bipartisan support and told CNN that the new rule was a net benefit for both the government and young men required by law to register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Making registration automatic not only saves taxpayer dollars by eliminating the need to advertise but finally ensures that young men are not unknowingly penalized,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n