Geraldo Rivera: Automatic registration for draft 'a good idea'

Television personality and former journalist Geraldo Rivera endorsed a proposal for automatic draft registration as a good idea during a public commentary on Thursday, March 30. The proposal, formally submitted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on that date, seeks to automatically enroll most men aged 18 to 25 into the Selective Service System, which maintains the pool of individuals eligible for a potential military draft in the United States. Rivera's support comes as the federal government considers modernizing the decades-old registration process to increase efficiency and compliance. The current system requires men to register with the Selective Service within 30 days of their 18th birthday, a process that is often done manually via a paper form or online. Proponents of the automatic registration plan argue that it would streamline administration, reduce bureaucratic overhead, and ensure near-universal compliance with the existing legal requirement. The proposal under review would leverage existing government databases, such as those from other federal agencies, to identify and automatically register eligible individuals, fundamentally shifting the responsibility from the individual to the state. Rivera's public backing adds a notable voice to a debate that touches on civic duty, government efficiency, and personal liberty. The Selective Service System, established in its modern form in 1980, has not been used to induct soldiers since the Vietnam War, but maintaining an accurate registry is a congressional mandate. Critics of automatic registration may raise concerns about privacy and the expansion of government data sharing. The OIRA's review is a standard part of the regulatory process, and any final rule change would follow a public comment period, meaning Rivera's comments are part of the early public discourse on this potential policy shift.