By December, most American men will no longer have to sign up for the Selective Service System on their own.
Instead, the federal government plans to register them automatically.
The change, approved by Congress in December as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, would require the Selective Service System to use existing federal records to enroll men within 30 days of their 18th birthdays. The agency submitted its proposed rule on March 30 and is awaiting final approval.
For decades, registration has depended largely on self-reporting. Federal law requires nearly all men between 18 and 25 to register with the Selective Service, the agency that maintains the list of people who could be called up if Congress and the president were ever to reinstate a military draft.
The United States has not used a draft since 1973, when the Vietnam War ended and the armed forces became an all-volunteer military. But in 1980, amid tensions with the Soviet Union, President Jimmy Carter restored the registration requirement, arguing that the government needed a way to prepare for a national emergency.
Since then, young men have been expected to register within 30 days of turning 18. Those who do not can face serious penalties, including the loss of access to federal jobs, some forms of student aid and job-training programs.
The law also permits fines of up to $250,000 and prison terms of up to five years.
Supporters of the new system say it will save money and eliminate a process that has become increasingly ineffective. The Selective Service has said the change shifts the burden of registration from young men to the government itself.
The proposal arrives at a moment of growing anxiety about the possibility of a wider military conflict. Online speculation about a draft has intensified amid renewed tensions in the Middle East.
But the existence of a registration system does not mean a draft is imminent. President Trump cannot restore compulsory military service on his own. Congress would first have to pass legislation authorizing it.
During the Vietnam War, Trump received five draft deferments that kept him from military service. Four were student deferments while he attended Fordham University and later the University of Pennsylvania. In 1968, after graduating, Trump received a medical deferment due to bone spurs in his heels, resulting in a 4-F classification and exempting him from service. Trump has said the condition was “not a big problem” but enough to keep him out of the military.
Over the years, critics have questioned the legitimacy of the diagnosis, and Trump has said he does not remember which foot was affected.
Women remain excluded from the Selective Service system, despite repeated attempts in recent years to include them in the annual defense bill. Those proposals have failed each time.
