A diverse coalition is mobilizing opposition to a recently-passed federal law that seeks to step up preparations for and readiness to activate a military draft. The new law authorizes the federal Selective Service System (SSS) to begin using automated involuntary registration to increase the number of individuals currently listed in the agency’s database of potential draftees.
A statement released today by the coalition argues that, instead of attempting to automate draft registration, Congress should repeal the entire Military Selective Service Act that authorizes registration and other planning and preparation for a draft.
Since 1980, almost all male U.S. citizens or residents who reach age 18 have been required by law to register themselves with the SSS. However, the SSS has seen persistent shortfalls in compliance, and it has become increasingly obvious that its database is both incomplete and inaccurate. As a result, Congress approved a provision proposed by the SSS and buried in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act that will authorize the culling of information from other federal databases to automatically and involuntarily register men with the SSS. This law will give the SSS unprecedented authority to aggregate data from any other federal agency that might help identify or locate potential draftees.
The switch to automatic registration is scheduled to take effect at the end of 2026 and will deny individuals the opportunity to object or show they don’t qualify for a draft.
The coalition points out that the switch to automatic registration was enacted with no hearings, no debate, and no budget review, and it warns that “there is no reason to think that a list constructed from other databases compiled for entirely unrelated purposes will be any more fit for the purpose of provably delivering induction notices than the current ‘self-registration’ list.”
Another worry of the coalition is that access to the SSS database of registered individuals is already being sought by the Department of State and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in order to identify noncitizen residents for possible deportation.
With this unprecedented expansion of draft registration, the federal government is eliminating one of the last barriers to unpopular wars and mandatory military service. In addition, the registration list compiled by the SSS will be vulnerable to misuse and weaponization, especially against trans, non-binary, and immigrant youth.
The coalition’s statement has been endorsed by peace and anti-war groups, draft resisters, religious organizations and civil libertarians. They are calling for Congress to end SSS registration with a repeal of the Military Selective Service Act – before the new law directing the SSS to try to find and automatically register potential draftees takes effect in December 2026. Bipartisan legislation for this purpose has been introduced several times in the past – most recently in 2022 (H.R. 2509) and 2024 (S. 4881) – and could be considered as a freestanding bill or as part of this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. Individuals can send this message to Congress with this form.
Trying to get young people to sign up and report every time they change their address has been a fiasco. Trying to find and track them all “automatically” will inevitably be another fiasco. It’s time for Congress to recognize that a military draft isn’t a realistic policy option.
The current mandate of the SSS is to maintain ongoing readiness to activate a draft whenever Congress and the President orders it to do so. According to the coalition statement, “Even before a draft is activated, the mere presence of a system to carry it out and enroll men to be involuntarily inducted can encourage politicians and military planners to feel overconfident in planning and carrying out larger and longer wars without having to worry about whether enough people would be willing to fight them.”
This past Sunday, for example, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt was asked by Fox News about the possibility of a draft for a ground war in Iran. Leavitt didn’t mention the draft in her response, but said that President Trump “does not remove options off of the table”. Repealing the Military Selective Service Act would take the draft off the table and remove it from the arsenal of threats and escalation options available to any President or Congress, regardless of party.
Edward Hasbrouck maintains the Resisters.info website and publishes the “Resistance News” newsletter. He was imprisoned in 1983-1984 for organizing resistance to draft registration.
