FY2023 NDAA: Selective Service and Draft Registration

INSIGHTi

FY2023 NDAA: Selective Service and Draft
Registration
Updated January 12, 2023
Background
Several provisions in the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC)-reported National Defense
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 (NDAA; S. 4543) would have amended the Military Selective
Service Act (MSSA; 50 U.S.C. §§3801 et seq.). The MSSA provides statutory authority for the federal
government to maintain an independent Selective Service Agency responsible for managing the Selective
Service System (SSS) and for delivering qualified civilian men for induction into the U.S. Armed Forces
when authorized by the President and Congress. Under the MSSA, all male U.S. citizens and most male
noncitizen residents of the United States between the ages of 18 and 26 are required to register with the
SSS. Knowingly or willfully failing to register may result in certain federal and state penalties including
fines, imprisonment, and ineligibility for federal employment or workforce programs. Women are not
required to register. Congress did not include any of the SASC-proposed provisions in the enacted
FY2023 NDAA.
Since the Civil War, conscription (“the draft”) of registered males has been used to meet military
personnel needs at various times in U.S. history. The President’s draft induction authority last expired on
July 2, 1973, preceding the transition to an all-volunteer force. In 1975, President Gerald Ford
temporarily terminated the registration requirement and the SSS reduced its functions. In 1980, in
response to Cold War threats, President Jimmy Carter reinstated the male registration requirement, which
remains in force. While the registration requirement remains in effect, Congress has not taken any action
to reinstate the draft induction authority. If Congress and the President reinstated the draft induction
authority, some deferments and exemptions, including religious exemptions, would apply under current
law. The SSS manages the registration requirement and mobilization planning. The Consolidated
Appropriations Act for FY2023 (P.L. 117-328), enacted on December 29, 2022 includes $31.7 million for
the SSS; $2.5 million more than the FY2022 appropriation of $29.2 million, and $0.5 million above the
FY2023 budget request of $29.7 million.
In the FY2017 NDAA (P.L. 114-328), Congress established a National Commission on Military, National,
and Public Service (MNAPS Commission) to help consider options for the future of the MSSA. The
commission’s final report, released in March 2020, included recommendations for amending the MSSA,
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including requiring women to register for the draft. These recommendations formed the basis of the
Inspire to Serve Act of 2020 (H.R. 6415) introduced in the 116th Congress. Some of the provisions of this
act were enacted with the FY2022 NDAA (P.L. 117-81) (see CRS Insight IN11780, FY2022 NDAA:
Selective Service and Draft Registration, by Kristy N. Kamarck.) Table 1 provides an overview of
proposals for the FY2023 NDAA.
Table 1. FY2023 NDAA Legislative Proposals on Selective Service
House-passed (H.R. 7900)
SASC-reported (S. 4543)
Enacted Legislation (P.L. 117-263)
No similar language
Section 521 would have
Not adopted

Amended the congressional
declaration of the purpose of the
SSS;

Conveyed the “solemnity of
military service” to registrants;

Specified representation objectives
for local board appointments;

Required certain mobilization
exercises; and

Required women to register.
No similar language
Section 522 would have required express
Not adopted
congressional authorization to induct
individuals for training or service.
Source: CRS analysis of legislation on Congress.gov.
Discussion
The House-passed version of the FY2023 NDAA (H.R. 7900) did not include provisions related to the
SSS. Section 521 of the SASC-reported bill (S. 4543), titled Modernization of the Selective Service
System, would have amended the congressional intent of the system. Current text of 50 U.S.C. §3801(b)
states, “The Congress declares that an adequate armed strength must be achieved and maintained to insure
the security of this Nation.” The amended version would have stated,
The Congress declares that the security of the Nation requires that adequate military strength be
achieved and maintained by ensuring a requisite number of personnel with the necessary capabilities
to meet the diverse mobilization needs of the Department of Defense during a time of war.
This section would also have added language requiring the SSS to convey the “solemnity of military
service” to registrants.
Under 50 U.S.C. §3809(b)(3), the President has the authority to appoint volunteer civilians to local
boards. In the event of a draft authorization, these boards would decide draft deferments, postponements,
and exemptions based upon claims filed by persons selected for induction. Section 521 would have
amended this authority to specify that “to the maximum extent practicable” the boards are proportionally
representative of registrants in the jurisdiction on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
(as specified under 42 U.S.C. §2000e–2(a)).
According to SSS annual reporting, the agency conducts periodic readiness exercises of the lottery system
for drafting registrants, and mobilization of local boards. Section 521 would also have required the SSS to
periodically exercise its mobilization plans and processes, conduct a full interagency exercise every four
years, and conduct public awareness campaigns in conjunction with such exercises.

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The SASC-reported bill would have required women to register for the draft. Female registration for the
draft has been the subject of legislative proposals in prior Congresses and court decisions. Similar
provisions in the House- and Senate-reported versions of the FY2022 NDAA (H.R. 4350, §513; and S.
2792, §511; respectively) would have required women to register, but were not enacted. The
Biden Administration and some women’s and men’s advocacy groups support expanding registration
requirements. Other advocacy groups are opposed to requiring women to register for the draft, with some
observers arguing that Congress should reconsider the registration requirement for all Americans.
Section 522 of the SASC-reported bill would have amended 50 U.S.C. §3809 to state, “No person shall be
inducted for training and service in the Armed Forces under this title unless Congress first passes and
there is enacted a law expressly authorizing such induction into service.” This provision could have
removed some ambiguity about Congress’s role in authorizing the draft. Current law (50 U.S.C.
§3803(a)) authorizes the President “from time to time, whether or not a state of war exists, to select and
induct into the Armed Forces of the United States for training and service,” but also states under 50
U.S.C. §3815 that, “no person shall be inducted for training and service in the Armed Forces after July 1,
1973.”
The House and Senate agreement did not adopt any provisions related to the MSSA, meaning that
proposed changes were not enacted in the FY2023 NDAA.

Author Information

Kristy N. Kamarck

Specialist in Military Manpower




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