Internet confuses people over US military draft change... here is the truth

Some in Congress have proposed reforming America’s rarely-used conscription system – but the changes are far from a done deal

Congress has not voted to make US women eligible for conscription, and nor has it resolved to automatically enroll all young American men into the military draft database – at least, not yet.

Numerous excitable posts on TikTok, Reddit, and X (formerly Twitter) in the last month have claimed that sweeping reforms to the USA’s rarely-used draft system are underway.

Some focused on a bill passed by the US House of Representatives that would enroll young men automatically instead of requiring them to fill out paperwork, while others pointed to a US Senate proposal to enroll women as well.

A US Army infantryman assigned to Foxtrot Company ‘Pathfinders’ 2nd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, looks through his sights during M4 rifle reflexive fire range training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina (Photo by Capt. Adan Cazarez)

But neither of these proposals is a done deal, and neither provides any evidence that the US is secretly preparing to draft Americans to fight in Ukraine or some other planned future war, as some online commenters alleged.

Last Friday the Republican-controlled House passed a new version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) allowing the US government to automatically pull records from other federal databases to enroll men aged 18 through 25 into the draft system.

Men of that age are already legally required to enroll in the draft system in case they are ever called up, on pain of criminal penalties. The new law would make it harder for them to refuse or avoid doing so.

However, this new version of the NDAA also includes controversial partisan provisions such as restricting abortion or transgender healthcare for military personnel and their families, meaning it is unlikely to be passed by the Senate.

US Marines with Combat Logistics Battalion 26, 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Photo by Lance Cpl. Emily Hazelbaker)

One narrowly failed amendment even required the restoral of a Confederate monument in Arlington National Cemetary depicting a stereotypical black “mammy”, which was taken down in December.

Meanwhile, the Senate Armed Forces Committee has introduced its own version of the NDAA which would make women eligible for the draft.

Groundbreaking as that would be, it's also something that the Senate has repeatedly proposed over the past few years without ever managing to get it passed by both chambers of Congress.

Many social media posts conflated these two proposals or misstate their details, sometimes making conspiratorial claims about their significance.

"If the Biden regime think American citizens are going to comply with a draft and fight in Ukraine, they are mistaken," said one post on X.

"The majority of us would rather die fighting the US government, than die in a trench in Ukraine, fighting a rich man’s war. That’s not a threat. It’s a promise."

Another user on TikTok falsely claimed: "As of today, you don't need to worry about registering for the military draft. No! The government is gonna do that for you automatically...

"My main question is, why would Congress need to pass such a law right now...? We're not even at war. Right?"

The US has not used military conscription since the Vietnam War when it became a flashpoint for anti-war and anti-imperialist protests.

It was most famously used during the Second World War when more than 10 million men were drafted into the military between 1940 and 1946.