Senators introduce bipartisan bill to end military draft

Democratic and Republican senators have come together to introduce legislation that will put an end to the military draft.

The bill, introduced by Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), would repeal the Military Selective Service Act first passed in 1917 at the height of World War I.

The law required all men between the ages of 18 and 45 to register for the possibility of being drafted into the military in times of war.

A draft was issued for both world wars and the Korean War. The last time it was issued was for the Vietnam War over 50 years ago.

The U.S. military became an all-volunteer force in 1973, but the Selective Service System still exists in the case of a contingency plan. Now only men between the ages of 18 and 25 are required to register in the instance that a draft may need to be invoked.

The program cost $26 million in 2021 and has jumped up to $33.4 million for a 2025 budget request.

“The Selective Service is a long-outdated program that eats up millions of taxpayer dollars and gives us nothing in return,” Wyden said in a statement. “This is a commonsense bill that brings our military into the twentieth century and keeps money in American wallets.”

The introduction of this bill comes as the Army struggles to attract new recruits, having just spent $11 million to partner with the United Football League and failing to produce a single new enlistee. In 2023, the military fell 41,000 short of its recruitment goals.

Since the Department of Defense expanded all combat roles to women in 2015, Congress has debated about opening up the selective service to women. This year, Democrats added language to the annual defense authorization bill which would require women to register for the draft, garnering criticism from Republicans.

It’s been a point of contention year after year, and in 2020, a commission created by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act said including women in the draft would be “a necessary and fair step, making it possible to draw on the talent of a unified Nation in a time of national emergency.”

“Women are doing a remarkable job in our forces today, and if we were in a situation requiring a draft, I think we would need all able-bodied citizens 18 and above,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-RI) said in June. “If we go to a draft, that means we’re in a serious, serious situation.”