The Selective Service System will automatically register all eligible U.S. men ages 18 to 26 for the military draft pool by December 2026, closing a compliance gap that has left roughly one in five eligible men unregistered.

The agency submitted a proposed rule to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs on March 30, initiating the regulatory review process required before implementation. 

Under the new system, the Selective Service System will pull data from the Social Security Administration and other federal databases to identify and register eligible men within 30 days of their 18th birthday. At present, men are required to self-register within the same window, with late registration available until age 26.

The change aims to address a persistent shortfall in voluntary compliance. The Selective Service System reported that 81% of eligible men registered in 2024, leaving approximately 19% outside the draft database. 

Registration rates have also declined since 2022, when the registration question was removed from federal student loan application forms. That channel previously accounted for nearly a quarter of all registrations, according to Selective Service data.

Proponents argue that automatic registration will also eliminate millions of dollars spent annually on public outreach campaigns urging compliance. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), who sponsored the language in the NDAA, said the change would “allow us to rededicate resources toward readiness and mobilization rather than education and advertising campaigns.” 

Automatic registration is not a new concept nationally, 46 states and territories already operate under similar systems at the state level. The December rule extends the practice to the federal government for the first time.

Officials stressed the change does not activate conscription or imply a shift toward a potential draft. The United States has maintained an all-volunteer military since February 1973, when the last draft induction order expired following the Vietnam War. 

Reinstating conscription requires a separate act of Congress signed by the president, a threshold unchanged by the new registration rule.

The requirement for automatic registration was included in the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump in December 2025. The legislation passed with bipartisan support. The proposed rule remains under regulatory review and must be finalized before the December implementation date.