As the war in Iran enters its second week, the possibility of President Donald Trump deploying ground troops to the region has loomed over the conflict.
On Sunday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Trump “does not remove options off the table,” a comment meant to address the possibility of deploying U.S. troops in Iran but one that quickly ignited speculation online about a potential draft.
While Leavitt’s comments prompted right- and left-wing voices to frame the remark as evidence that the administration is considering conscription, there is no clear indication that the White House is preparing to reinstate the draft.
War Secretary Pete Hegseth made similarly vague remarks during a 60 Minutes interview on Sunday night, saying the Trump administration is “willing to go as far as we need to in order to be successful.”
The remarks come as Trump has ruled out working with Kurdish troops to engage in ground combat, and the war continues to expand across the Middle East. Both events have raised fears that the fighting could evolve into a longer, larger war.
While reinstating the draft remains a distant possibility, the debate has revived questions about how conscription works in the United States, when it has been used, and under what conditions it could return.
What would have to happen for a draft?
Reinstating the draft would require action from both Congress and the president. Lawmakers would first need to pass legislation authorizing conscription under the Military Selective Service Act before the president could activate the system.
Once activated, the Selective Service would begin a lottery system, choosing men whose 20th birthday falls in the year of the draft. The military would then draft men starting with 21-year-olds and ending with 25-year-olds. Women are not eligible to be drafted.
The Selective Service System also had a Health Care Personnel Delivery System, which Congress could approve to draft medical personnel in the event of a crisis.
In practice, a draft is generally considered only in a major national emergency or a large-scale war that requires more troops than available to the Department of War through voluntary service.
That means the debate is typically tied to one key question: whether the U.S. deploys large numbers of ground troops.
Historically, drafts have been used when prolonged wars required millions of personnel. For example, the U.S. military had more than 12 million active service members during World War II.
During the war in Iraq in the early 2000s, many Americans feared a draft. However, due to the events of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, a surge of patriotism increased the recruitment levels. This led the military not to have to draft additional personnel to meet wartime needs.
The size of the military today
The modern U.S. military relies primarily on volunteers across the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force, supported by reserve and National Guard components.
As of March 2025, the U.S. military had 1.32 million active duty soldiers, with the Army having the largest number of personnel. There are an additional 766,000 reserve troops.
Because the current force is designed to handle multiple global operations without conscription, a draft would likely only become a serious consideration if the U.S. entered a much larger and prolonged ground war.
Recruitment levels also influence that calculation. In recent years, the military has faced challenges meeting recruitment targets, prompting lawmakers to consider changes such as automatically registering young men for the Selective Service beginning in 2026.
When has a draft been implemented?
The U.S. has not drafted service members in more than half a century. The last person was inducted into the military through the Selective Service System on June 30, 1973, during the Vietnam War.
Conscription had previously been used in several major conflicts, including World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. More than 1.8 million Americans were drafted during the Vietnam era alone.
In 1973, the U.S. transitioned to an all-volunteer force, meaning service members choose to enlist rather than being required to serve. However, the Selective Service System was maintained in case a draft was needed again.
Today, nearly all men ages 18 to 25 are still required to register with the Selective Service so the government can quickly conduct a draft if authorized.
Why drafts are politically sensitive
The prospect of conscription remains deeply controversial in American politics, largely because of the experience during the Vietnam War, when millions of young men were compelled to serve in a war that was not widely supported.
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Because of the stain left by the Vietnam draft, the manner of adding personnel through a draft remains unpopular. A Pew Research poll found that 74% of Americans agree with keeping the military volunteer only.
Supporters of a draft argue it could provide manpower in a national emergency and distribute the burden of war broadly across society. Critics counter that forcing people into service can hurt morale and military readiness, and that it remains unpopular with the public. Additionally, opponents of conscription argue that drafting soldiers only adds more bodies, not professionalism.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the White House for comment.
