Amna Nawaz
@PBSNewsHour·5.3M subscribers·62.2K videos
What the new draft registration rule means for you
Posted
April 24, 2026
Views
25,015
Likes
204
Engagement
0.82%
April 24, 2026
25,015
204
0.82%
Every word spoken in this episode is indexed. Type any phrase to jump straight to the moment it was said.
Type any word or phrase that may have been spoken. Click a result to seek the player to that exact moment.
Try a name, a topic, or a quoted line
3:00Now PlayingA new rule will automatically register men between 18 and 25 for the Selective Service starting in December. How will that work?
The registration requirement for the Selective Service System, a database for the federal government in case of a military draft, is already law. But how it happens right now varies by state. Some make it part of registering for a driver's license or state ID; others don't. Registration rates have dropped, according to Selective Service data. The change, passed by Congress with bipartisan support last year, makes registration automatic.
This doesn't mean a draft will happen. PBS News’ Tim McPhillips spoke with Katherine Kuzminski, director of studies at the Center for a New American Security, to break down what the Selective Service System is, what the change means and how military drafts work.
Sign up for Here's The Deal with Lisa Desjardins
Subscribe for exclusive content in our newsletters
PBS News podcasts
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app
Find more from PBS News at
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Sentinel Indexing in Progress
Metadata and chapters are available. Claim extraction for this episode is pending.
All video content is delivered via YouTube embedded players in accordance with the YouTube Terms of Service. Sentinel provides research tools that promote discovery and accountability across political media.
