Overview
- Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said a draft is not part of the current plan while noting the president keeps options on the table, and the White House later clarified there are no immediate plans for conscription.
- Any return to conscription would require Congress to pass a law under the Military Selective Service Act and the president to sign it, which cannot be done by unilateral executive action.
- The U.S. has relied on an all‑volunteer force since 1973, and while men ages 18 to 25 must register with the Selective Service, registration does not mean they will be inducted.
- Analysts, including CSIS’s Mark F. Cancian, assess the likelihood of a draft in the Iran conflict as very low, citing military preference for volunteers and more practical options such as activating reserves, recalling the IRR, or using stop‑loss policies.
- The Selective Service system remains in place under an acting director with more than 2,000 local boards; a lottery would likely call 20‑year‑olds first, and Pentagon data indicate only about 23% of 17‑ to 24‑year‑olds meet basic eligibility standards.