U.S. Govt. to Automatically Register Eligible Young Men for Military Draft Later This Year

The federal government will begin registering eligible young men for the U.S. military draft later this year — shifting from the longstanding requirement men self-register after turning 18 to a new system using existing federal data to automatically enroll them.

Starting in December, the U.S. government will begin automatically registering eligible young men for the Selective Service System (SSS) — the federal agency that maintains a national database of men between 18 and 25 years old for a potential military draft in case of a national emergency, according to a report by Military Times.

The Selective Service System submitted the “automatic registration” rule change to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30. Congress approved automatic registration for the draft late last year as part of the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.

“This statutory change transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources,” the agency said on its website.

“SSS will implement the change by December 2026, resulting in a streamlined registration process and corresponding workforce realignment,” the agency added.

Currently, most men ages 18 to 25 are already required to register with the Selective Service System in case a military draft is authorized, under federal law.

Eligible young men are mandated to self-register within 30 days after they turn 18, with failure to do so resulting in a felony.

“Failure to register with Selective Service is a violation of the Military Selective Service Act,” the SSS states on its website. “Conviction for such a violation may result in imprisonment for up to five years and/or a fine of not more than $250,000.”

Moreover, those who fail to register “may be ineligible for opportunities important to his future,” the agency adds, citing the potential to be denied student loans, government jobs, and U.S. citizenship — if they are immigrants.

In recent years, registration for the draft has decreased, partly due to the option to register having been removed from federal student loan forms in 2022, which accounted for nearly a quarter of all previous registrations, Military Times noted.

Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), who sponsored the automatic draft registration language in the 2026 defense policy bill, argued the legislation “will 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.”

Women are still exempt from draft registration, despite some attempts from lawmakers.

The Selective Service System was established in 1917 by President Woodrow Wilson after the Unites States entered World War I.

The Unites States hasn’t activated the draft since the Vietnam War in 1973, and has relied on volunteers ever since.

President Gerald Ford suspended the draft in 1975, but it was reinstated by President Jimmy Carter in 1980, when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.