American Men Are Set to Be Automatically Registered for the Draft. Here’s What to Know

Eligible men in the U.S. will automatically be registered for the military draft beginning in December, according to the federal agency that oversees draft registration. 

The Selective Service System (SSS), which maintains the database of men eligible for a draft, states on its website that under the new, “streamlined” registration process, responsibility for registering will shift “from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources.”

The SSS submitted a proposed rule to implement the automatic registration on March 30 to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, which is currently in the process of reviewing the proposal. 

Congress previously approved the change to automatic registration in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2026, which was signed into law by President Donald Trump in December. 

The U.S. has not had a draft since 1973, during the Vietnam War. To reinstate one, Congress would need “to amend the Military Selective Service Act to authorize the President to induct personnel into the Armed Forces,” according to SSS. 

Here’s what to know about SSS registration, who is required to register for the draft, and the new process set to be put in place at the end of this year. 

Who is required to register for the draft, and how does the process currently work?

Almost all male citizens and male immigrants between the ages of 18 and 25 are required by federal law to register with the SSS within 30 days of either marking their18th birthday or entering the U.S.

Men who fail to register can become ineligible for state financial aid, state and federal employment, and—in the case of male immigrants—U.S. citizenship. Failing to register, or aiding and abetting someone “to fail to comply with the registration requirement,” is also considered a felony and is punishable by up to a $250,000 fine and five years imprisonment, according to the SSS.

Select groups are exempt from the registration requirements, including men who were hospitalized or incarcerated from the age of 18 through 25; men who lived in the U.S. during that period but "maintained lawful nonimmigrant status” the full time; and men who served continuously in the military between those ages. Men born between March 29, 1957, and December 31, 1959, were also exempt. 

Disabled men who would not qualify for military service must still register with SSS. 

In the event of a draft, a man can file a claim for an exemption as a “conscientious objector” if he has religious or moral objections to war.

“A man’s reasons for not wanting to participate in a war must not be based on politics, expediency, or self-interest,” the SSS outlines. “In general, the man’s lifestyle prior to making his claim must reflect his current claims.”

Women are not required to register, though they may voluntarily enlist in the army. 

Eligible men can currently register themselves online or through the mail.

In the event of Congress and the President authorizing a draft, the SSS would hold a random lottery drawing of registrants’ birthdays and numbers to determine “the order in which individuals receive orders to report for induction,” according to the agency. Men whose twentieth birthdays fell during the year of the lottery would be the first to receive such orders. Additional lotteries, if required, would be conducted for men aged 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 19, and lastly 18.6 years old.

The Department of Defense (DOD) requires the SSS to “deliver the first inductees to the military” within 193 days of a draft being authorized, per the agency.

How will the proposed rule change the process?

The 2026 NDAA amends the Military Selective Service Act to include language stating that men between the ages of 18 and 26 “shall be automatically registered under this Act by the Director of the Selective Service System.”

Men will be automatically registered within 30 days of their 18th birthday under the new policy, the same period during which eligible men are currently required to self-register. 

They will then receive written notice that they have been registered, per the NDAA—and be notified of the process for contesting their registration, if they fall into the select groups who are exempt from the requirements.

The proposed rule will not change who is required to register.

Democratic Rep. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, who sponsored the language of the amendment, said that the automatic registration process would save money and agency 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.