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Senators propose abolishing the Selective Service
Stars & Stripes ^ | May 14, 2026 | Svetlana Shkolnikova

Posted on 05/17/2026 9:52:17 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Thursday to abolish the government agency that keeps a list of men eligible for the military draft. The senators say the agency, known as the Selective Service System, is costly and a relic of the past, operating with a budget of $31 million per year to prepare for a draft that has not occurred since 1973. “Our volunteer military forces are the strongest in the world, and there is no need to replicate the same draft that sent 2 million unwilling young men to war 50 years ago,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

Wyden cosponsored the bill alongside Republicans Rand Paul of Kentucky and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming. Paul, a vocal advocate for congressional war powers, said Congress will declare war if it is worth fighting, and people will volunteer to fight it.

“This outdated government program no longer serves a purpose and should be eliminated permanently,” he said.

The bill comes as the Selective Service will begin automating the registration of men ages 18 to 25 for a potential draft, removing a decades-old requirement that male U.S. citizens and most male residents register themselves. News that the agency was moving forward with the automation, which will pull information from various federal government databases and is expected to be completed by December, sparked fears of a potential draft stemming from the current war against Iran. But lawmakers say the days of calling up young men to fight are over.

(Excerpt) Read more at stripes.com ...


TOPICS: Military/Veterans
KEYWORDS: draft; randpaul; selectiveservice; vietnamwar
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1 posted on 05/17/2026 9:52:17 AM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
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To: CondoleezzaProtege
The senators say the agency, known as the Selective Service System, is costly and a relic of the past, operating with a budget of $31 million per year to prepare for a draft that has not occurred since 1973.


2 posted on 05/17/2026 9:53:23 AM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

I prefer abolishing congress.


3 posted on 05/17/2026 9:54:20 AM PDT by DownInFlames (P)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Great since the system is automating we can easily include the women in as well.


4 posted on 05/17/2026 9:55:37 AM PDT by Secret Agent Man (Gone Galt; not averse to Going Bronson.)
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To: DownInFlames

If “Pro” is the opposite of
“Con”, then what is the opposite of “Progress.”


5 posted on 05/17/2026 9:55:51 AM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: dfwgator

The same people worried about 31 million will gladly send a couple billion to Africa to preach lbgt propaganda.


6 posted on 05/17/2026 9:59:22 AM PDT by Husker24 (Pp)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Talk about being anti-war and making sure the population of the U.S. never has skin in the game anymore.

“Professional” is a buzzword for “all-volunteer”. In a major attack on the mainland, that won’t ever be a sufficient fighting force.

Do you see any of our enemies eliminating conscription?


7 posted on 05/17/2026 9:59:30 AM PDT by 4Runner ("I gotta join a union to get paid for loafin'?" " Sure ya do!" --Abbott & Costello)
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To: DownInFlames

Same here.


8 posted on 05/17/2026 10:00:06 AM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: dfwgator

Love it! I never saw that before.


9 posted on 05/17/2026 10:00:22 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: dfwgator

Nice one.


10 posted on 05/17/2026 10:01:04 AM PDT by 4Runner ("I gotta join a union to get paid for loafin'?" " Sure ya do!" --Abbott & Costello)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Beware getting rid of this. Just when you think, “Oh, it will never happen…” along comes some scumbags and we have mass casualties on a scale never seen before.


11 posted on 05/17/2026 10:01:13 AM PDT by vpintheak (The left is violence.)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

“A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Thursday to abolish the government agency that keeps a list of men eligible for the military draft. The senators say the agency, known as the Selective Service System, is costly and a relic of the past, operating with a budget of $31 million per year to prepare for a draft that has not occurred since 1973.”

Out of the tens and hundreds of billion$ in budget reductions the Senators could offer, they focus on this tiny $31 million item, intents as they are with trying for the moment to win an “anti-war” popularity vote.

Frankly at $31 million it seems very financially efficient of a nationwide system that only, in case of national military emergency, keeps track of men coming of age for possible call up, if needed and if also Congress additionally, by legislation, activates the draft.


12 posted on 05/17/2026 10:02:20 AM PDT by Wuli (ui)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Pass the SAVE act. Losers.


13 posted on 05/17/2026 10:02:37 AM PDT by HYPOCRACY (There is no gravity. The earth just sucks. )
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

They’ll just waste the money somewhere else.


14 posted on 05/17/2026 10:03:51 AM PDT by ComputerGuy
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Make two years service mandatory for all 18 y/o citizens.


15 posted on 05/17/2026 10:03:57 AM PDT by Z28.310 (Overthinkers Annonymous suggestion; "Do not simply comply". ..especially with ClusterB disorders)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

Should be the exact opposite.

There should be compulsory military service for men similar to South Korea.


16 posted on 05/17/2026 10:05:04 AM PDT by SpaceBar
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To: All

Save even more——dump Congress.

Congress costs taxpayers over $1.3 billion annually
in legislative branch appropriations for operations,
<><>with over $570 million spent on Senate staff and expenses alone in 2024
<><>yearly salaries of $174,000 per member,
<><>plus office allowances,
<><>staff salaries for roughly 12,500 people,
<><>and untold committee funding.


17 posted on 05/17/2026 10:05:59 AM PDT by Liz (Winston Churchill: “Nothing in life is so exhilarating as to be shot at without result.”)
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

But lawmakers say the days of calling up young men to fight are over.
———

We noticed they’ve already surrendered, so this tracks.

$31 million isn’t even a rounding error, btw.


18 posted on 05/17/2026 10:06:40 AM PDT by Freedom4US
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To: CondoleezzaProtege

It would be like dropping space travel plans after Apollo; without someone around who knows how it works it would take forever (and a ton of money) to re-establish the system if you need it. And….if we really need it, time will be of the essence.

Of all of the government expenses I’ve seen people want to cut, this one makes the least sense.


19 posted on 05/17/2026 10:07:01 AM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: Z28.310
Make two years service mandatory for all 18 y/o citizens.

No. Enough young years are wasted in public schools and college before men get to be adults and raise families. We have a 13th Amendment.
20 posted on 05/17/2026 10:08:18 AM PDT by Dr. Sivana ("Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye." (John 2:5))
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