Senate Democrats have added language requiring women to register for the draft to the annual defense authorization bill, but that has sparked a backlash from Republicans and social conservatives, complicating the chances of the bill getting any time in the Senate before Election Day.
Conservatives, led by Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), are sure to try to remove the provision requiring women to register for the draft, which could pose a tough vote for Democrats including Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), who are both facing tough re-election bids.
Rosen’s Republican opponent, Sam Brown, has already made the issue an issue in his Nevada Senate race.
Brown, an Army combat veteran who was severely burned after an improvised explosive device detonated, blasted Rosen in a video for voting to require women to register for the draft.
“Look at my face. This is the high cost of war,” he recently posted on social media site X.
“Amy and I volunteered to serve in the military, and we respect all who serve,” he wrote, referring to his wife, “but forcing America’s daughters to register for the draft is unacceptable. Shame on you, Jacky Rosen.”
In a video posted beneath those comments, Brown pointed to the scars on her face as evidence of the dangers women would face in a combat zone.
“Look at my face. This is the high cost of war. I learned that Rep. Jacky Rosen voted this week to make it mandatory for daughters to register for the draft. You will be hearing more from me on this in the coming days,” he said.
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) called the provision requiring women to register for the draft “outrageous.”
He accused the Biden administration of trying to implement woke policies at the Pentagon.
“There should be no women in the draft. Women should not be forced to serve if they don’t want to,” he told Fox News. He criticized Democrats for trying to experiment with the military, saying, “The average person would say, ‘Keep your hands off my daughters.'”
Hawley led the effort to remove language requiring women to register for the draft from the 2021 and 2022 National Defense Authorization bills.
Groups affiliated with former Vice President Mike Pence also spoke out on the issue on Wednesday.
The group Advancing American Freedom sent a letter to Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana declaring that “the idea that the United States should require women to register to serve in war is completely untenable and must be opposed at all costs.”
Senator Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he would try to remove the provision from the bill.
“I’m against it. I don’t think now is the time to be debating that on the floor of either house. We’re a long way from implementing the bill and it’s just going to get in the way at a time when we need to be talking about the real issues at hand,” he said.
“I’m hopeful that will happen either on the floor or at the conference,” he added.
But Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed (D-Indiana) defended the proposed policy change, arguing that women can serve in many combat roles without serving in front-line infantry units.
“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 want every able-bodied man over the age of 18,” she said.
“Going into the draft means you’re in a very serious situation,” he added.
“We don’t need a ton of infantrymen like in World War II. We need cyber experts, intelligence analysts, linguists, etc. But wait, there are plenty of women who can do this job better than men,” he argued.
He said fierce Republican opposition to the proposal “just doesn’t make sense.”
Senate aides say the issue is bipartisan, with some Republicans generally in favor of requiring women to register for the Selective Service System once they turn 18, just like men.
Senate Republicans are already questioning whether Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will bring a bill to the floor anytime soon, given the dwindling legislative timeline before the election.
“I’m hopeful that we’ll get to the floor. It’s really important that we have this debate in public. I hear rumors that Democratic leadership may not get to the floor. I’m hopeful that that will be overturned,” Wicker said.
McConnell on Monday called on Schumer to send a defense bill to Congress “without delay.”
Republican leaders praised the Senate Armed Services Committee for amending the defense bill earlier this month, but then signaled Democrats could drag out the process of getting the bill through the floor.
“But immediately following the committee action, Senate Democratic leaders dashed any hopes that they were ready to start taking national defense requirements seriously,” he said.
A vote to require women to be eligible for the draft could have a negative impact on Democrats in Republican-leaning states and battleground states such as Montana and Nevada.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Steve Daines of Montana focused on this issue during the last Congress, sponsoring an amendment in 2022 to remove a provision from the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would require women to register for the Selective Service Program.
“The brave men and women of Montana continue our Treasure State’s rich tradition of service by voluntarily enlisting in our military — our nation’s daughters should not be forced to serve,” Gov. Daines said at the time.
Hawley proposed an amendment to remove the women’s conscription provision from the NDAA in 2021. Her actions prompted Democrats to pressure her to ultimately remove the issue from the bill in December of that year without voting on the amendment.
He also introduced an amendment to the 2022 defense bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-TX), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Mike Lee (R-UT), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Roger Marshall (R-KS), John Boozman (R-AR), James Lankford (R-OK), and Daines, to remove language requiring women to register for the Selective Service Program.
