The future of the Selective Service System is currently being debated in negotiations over this year’s annual military policy bill, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The Selective Service is a government agency that keeps track of men eligible for military conscription, commonly known as the military draft. Both Chambers have passed their versions of the NDAA (H.R. 3838 and S. 2296), each containing proposals for the future of the Selective Service.
Now, Congress must decide the best way forward. As the House and Senate leaders gather to negotiate the final version of the NDAA, lawmakers must reject these misguided proposals to expand or automate the military draft system.
Automatic Registration
The most significant change proposed to the Selective Service is the House bill’s requirement of automatic registration of all men aged between 18 and 26. This proposal aims to register all potential draftees automatically, using information gathered from other federal databases.
“Congress should stop making futile attempts to salvage, much less expand, the current failed registration system.”
Automation of registration would grant the Selective Service new authority, allowing it to obtain information from federal agencies about potential draftees.
The data collected will likely include sex assigned at birth, immigration status, visa status, and current address.
This extensive data gathering poses a significant risk of weaponization and misuse, particularly with the potential for targeting the most vulnerable such as immigrant and transgender young adults.
Moreover, the proposed automatic registration would likely worsen existing flaws, including making it more difficult for conscientious objectors to exercise their right to resist military enlistment on the basis of sincerely held religious or moral objections.
As draft expert Edward Hasbrouck writes, “Congress should stop making futile attempts to salvage, much less expand, the current failed registration system.”
Expanding the Draft to Women
The Senate version of the NDAA would expand the draft to include women.
As FCNL has stated, including women in the Selective Service “does not represent a move forward for women; it represents a move backward.” It would impose on young women “a burden that young men have had to bear unjustly for decades – a burden that no young person should have to bear at all.”
The Way Forward
Instead of expanding and entrenching this unjust system, Congressional leaders should work to completely eliminate the Selective Service.
This institution enables the United States to sustain a system rooted in perpetual military readiness. Congress should focus its attention on building peace and encouraging diplomacy to prevent wars – not maintaining a system built on forcing persons to engage in violence.
