Men aged between 18 and 26 have not been automatically registered for the draft

Men in the U.S. are required to register with the Selective Service System when they turn 18. But after a legislative development, social media users are claiming this process has been made automatic.

"So all men (18-26) have been automatically registered in the US ARMY?," read a June 17 Threads post. "This is INSANE!"

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This claim is not unfounded, but it is misleading. On June 14, the Republican-held House passed H.R. 8070 or the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2025, which includes a provision that would effectively mandate automatic military draft registration. But the Democratic-controlled Senate hasn’t voted on the defense authorization act. 

Section 531 of the House-passed version of the bill would implement automatic registration to the Selective Service for every male U.S. citizen ages 18 to 26. The proposed amendments to the Military Selective Service Act, including automatic draft registration, would take effect one year after the bill is enacted.

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As of now, nearly all male U.S. citizens ages 18 to 25 must register with Selective Service. Failure to register is a crime and can be penalized by imprisonment for up to five years and/or a fine not exceeding $250,000.

According to a 2022 report by the Selective Service System, 46 states and territories have laws that support registration through processes such as driver’s license registration. The report said that in 2022, more than 830,000 men registered for the Selective Service through driver’s license registration.

But the bill that would make Selective Service registration automatic has not passed both chambers of Congress. To become law, the automatic registration measure would need to pass several legislative hurdles, including making it into a final version of the broader defense authorization act bill negotiated by the GOP-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate. 

We rate the claim that all men ages 18 to 26 have been automatically registered in the Army as False.