# Selective Service System The **Selective Service System** is the independent federal agency that maintains the list of men eligible for a military draft. Induction authority expired on July 1, 1973, when the [[All-Volunteer Force]] began; registration was suspended in 1975 and restored in 1980. The FY2026 NDAA, signed in December 2025, makes registration automatic through federal data-matching by December 2026. Registration is not conscription: any actual draft would require a new act of Congress. ## See Also - [[All-Volunteer Force]] · [[Department of Defense]] · [[Armed Forces Hub]]