A bipartisan group of lawmakers unveiled legislation on Thursday that would dismantle the government agency responsible for maintaining the military draft database of young, eligible men.
The bill — advanced by Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo. — would phase out the Selective Service System, citing its annual operating cost of more than $31 million per year. The senators argued that the agency has been largely defunct since 1973, the last time the United States conducted conscription.
“The Selective Service is an outdated program that costs millions of taxpayer dollars to prepare for a military draft that Americans don’t want or need,” Wyden said in a statement. “Our volunteer military forces are the strongest in the world, and there is no need to replicate the same draft that sent two million unwilling young men to war 50 years ago.”
Paul, in a separate statement, added: “I’ve long stated that if a war is worth fighting, Congress will vote to declare it and people will volunteer. This outdated government program no longer serves a purpose and should be eliminated permanently.”
In its 2024 annual report, the SSS acknowledged a recent decline in registration rates, but noted that an automated registration provision could help bolster future enrollment levels.
Congress later incorporated the rule change into the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act. The shift from a system of self-registration to automation is set to take effect in December, with noncompliance constituting a felony offense.
“This statutory change transfers responsibility for registration from individual men to SSS through integration with federal data sources,” according to its website. “SSS will implement the change by December 2026, resulting in a streamlined registration process and corresponding workforce realignment.”
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt also drew scrutiny earlier this year when declining to rule out reviving the draft following the launch of Operation Epic Fury, saying that “President Trump wisely does not remove options off the table.”
Tanya Noury is a reporter for Military Times and Defense News, with coverage focusing on the White House and Pentagon.
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