Starting December. This includes U.S. citizens and immigrants, according to the Selective Service System.
By Catholics for Catholics
Eligible men will automatically be registered for the military draft starting December, this includes U.S. citizens and immigrants, according to a proposed rule.
The Selective Service System (SSS), the federal government agency that keeps the database of draft-eligible Americans, presented the “automatic registration” rule change to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30, according to a story by The Hill.
In the current process, most men between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register with the Selective Service. However, automatic registration was authorized in December 2025 as part of the fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.
According to federal law, most men between 18 and 25 years old are already obligated to register with the Selective Service System in case a military draft is authorized.
In addition, young men are assumed to self-register within 30 days of their 18th birthdays, but the agency accepts late registrations until age 26. Failing to register with the Selective Service System is a felony.
A fine of up to $250,000 or five years’ imprisonment could be imposed on an eligible man who does not register for the selective service. Also, he could be denied student loans, government jobs (including federal, state and local) and US citizenship, if they are immigrants.
Since the Vietnam War, the U.S. has not had a draft, with military service being voluntary since 1973.
Nevertheless, former President Jimmy Carter restored the Selective Service in the event of a “national emergency” in 1980, 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.”
Some observers have asked whether a U.S. military draft could return during the war in Iran, which is currently in a shaky two-week ceasefire.
Karoline Leavitt, the White House’s press secretary in March said that while a draft is “not part of the current plan right now,” President Trump “wisely keeps his options on the table.”
