A bipartisan group of senators has introduced legislation to abolish conscription, calling it an “outdated” government system that no longer serves any purpose.
of invoiceThe bill introduced Thursday by Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) would repeal the Military Selective Service Act, known as the draft. First passed in 1917 to supplement military service during World War I, the law requires all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 to register for military service but hasn’t been in place since the Vietnam War.
“It’s been more than 50 years since conscription was last used,” Paul said in a statement about the bill. “I have always said that if a war is worth fighting, Congress will vote to declare it and the public will volunteer. This outdated government program no longer serves a purpose and should be eliminated for good.”
The bill comes as Congress is again debating expanding the draft after the Pentagon gave women all combat roles in 2015. Senate Democrats this year added language to the annual National Defense Authorization Bill requiring women to register for the draft, drawing backlash from Republicans and social conservatives.
Measures requiring women to register for potential military service continue to be removed from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) each year, most recently in 2021 and 2022.
Additionally, the program’s annual costs have been steadily increasing, jumping from a budgeted $26 million in 2021 to a requested $33.4 million in 2025.
“Selective Service is an outdated system that has eaten up millions of taxpayer dollars and given us nothing in return,” Wyden said in a statement. “This is a commonsense bill that will return our military to the 20th century and keep money in Americans’ wallets.”
Meanwhile, advocates for including women in the draft argue that it allows for a wider range of talent to be tapped if the worst happens.
A committee created by the NDAA in 2017 to study the issue issued a report in 2020 that called the measure “a necessary and fair measure that will allow us to draw on the talents of a unified nation during a national emergency” and made a similar recommendation.
“Women are doing a great job in the military right now, and if we were to have a situation where we needed to conscript, I think we would need every able-bodied man over 18,” Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-Ind.) said in June. “If we were to have a conscription, we would be in a very serious situation.”
