The Selective Service System aims to automatically register eligible men into the U.S. military draft pool by December, USA TODAY reports.
According to the outlet, the Selective Service System “submitted a proposed rule for automatic registration to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.”
Automatic registration for US military draft to begin in Decemberhttps://t.co/AGEzPTVeBd
— The Hill (@thehill) April 8, 2026
More from USA TODAY:
The new automatic registration process was approved by Congress under the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2026, which President Donald Trump signed into law in December 2025.
According to SSS website, the agency will implement the switch to automatic registration by December, creating a “streamlined registration process and corresponding workforce realignment.”
Here’s what to know about the new military draft registration process.
Most male U.S. citizens ages 18-25 are required to register with SSS, though there has not been an active military draft since 1973, according to the agency’s website.
Now, the agency is moving to an automatic registration process, rather than requiring eligible men to sign up manually.
“From 1948 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means. Induction authority expired in 1973, but the Selective Service System remained in existence in ‘standby’ to support the all-volunteer force in case of an emergency. Registration was suspended early in 1975 and the Selective Service System entered into ‘deep standby,’” the Selective Service System website says.
“Beginning in late 1979, a series of ‘revitalization’ efforts were begun in an effort to upgrade the System’s capability for rapid mobilization in an emergency. In the summer of 1980, registration was resumed. Presently, young men must register within 30 days of their 18th birthday,” it continued.
Young men in the U.S. will be automatically registered into the military draft pool by this December through a measure signed into law last December, formalizing a practice already conducted in much of the country. https://t.co/VSwDKir3qz
— ABC News (@ABC) April 10, 2026
The Hill noted:
The change, which was meant to save money, “transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources,” according to the website.
The proposed rule is currently under review by the regulatory affairs office and awaiting finalization.
The U.S. has not had a draft since the Vietnam War, with military service being voluntary since 1973.
But former President Jimmy Carter in 1980 reinstated the Selective Service in the event of a “national emergency,” where the registry could be used to “provide personnel to the Department of War and alternative service for conscientious objectors, if authorized by the President and Congress.”
Many have questioned whether a U.S. military draft could take place amid the war in Iran, which is currently in a tenuous two-week ceasefire.
