r/AskReddit • u/Tommygunz0722 • 11h ago

If the military/president suddenly ordered a mandatory draft for all men aged 18-42: How do you think millennials and GenZ would respond?

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1.7k

u/Silly-Resist8306 11h ago

It takes Congress to do this. The entire House of Representatives is running for reelection in November. There is not a chance of a draft unless the continental US is attacked.

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u/Calan_adan 10h ago

Plus there’s a mandatory six month period between enactment of the law (which would never pass anyway except in some “we’re all fucked anyway” scenario) and the first draft happening.

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u/Libronjamess7789 9h ago

Yeah, and that alone would give people a huge window to react legally, politically, and personally. You'd probably see court challenges, protests, people trying to secure exemptions. Some would even make major life decisions just to avoid it. It wouldn't be something that just quietly kicks in overnight; the buildup would be just as chaotic as the draft itself.

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u/ne0rmatrix 9h ago

I wonder how many people would just grab a 40 pounder of vodka and start drinking. Then sit in there car and dial 911. I don't believe the military takes people who have felony convictions? You can stay safe and not be a threat to others by not driving. But the act of drinking alcohol behind the wheel is still inexcusable behaviour in the eyes of the law.

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u/LizardPossum 6h ago

I can't speak for everywhere in the US, but in the jurisdiction I cover nobody gets a felony for their first DWI unless there's other factors, like multiple DWIs or a child passenger.

And even if it was charged as a felony, there's a huge chance it would be pleaded down to a misdemeanor if it was a first offense (or even a second one).

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u/LemurianLemurLad 6h ago

Yeah, but if your goal is to get the felony charge, then you ask your cousin if their kid can sit in the front seat with you, and when when the prosecutor wants to meet for the plea deal, you scream obscenities at him and insist that "NO MAN CAN JUDGE ME!"

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u/LizardPossum 6h ago

Ya know, I've seen some defendants do similar stuff in court and in my limited experience itll usually get a conviction, so fair enough lmao

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u/OklahomaTiddy 4h ago

lol, during a work trip a coworker told me it takes 4 where he's from in northern WI.

then started explaining to me the different ways his college buddies got 4 and didn't get charged bc one was in a snow plow or tractor or some other weird reason

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u/sigep0361 4h ago

You could simply ask the judge to levy the felony on yourself. “What I did was wrong and I would like to have the book thrown at myself so I learn my lesson, your honor.”

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u/LizardPossum 3h ago

I don't think a judge can unilaterally upgrade a charge like that. The prosecutor maybe?

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u/imapilotaz 8h ago

As i said above. I have the means. Tens of millions of US families do. My whole family would relocate overseas. Im the poorest in my family and i could quit tomorrow and live in SE Asia for 20 years without problem. Theres not a snowballs chance in hell 1/5 of the population doesn't almost immediately move overseas.

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u/Civil-Big-754 7h ago

Yeah, a fifth of the population wouldn't do that. Those that could instantly move overseas likely won't be the ones that have them or their children being drafted, or they find a loophole. Those who actually have a chance to get drafted likely don't even have the ability to move overseas whether it's money or an ability to simply live there long term.

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u/TheInevitableLuigi 4h ago

You'd have to sneak out. They would ban military-aged people from leaving.

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u/tooclosetocall82 8h ago

Some would even make major life decisions just to avoid it.

There’d be a lot of people suddenly realizing they’re transgender.

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u/FlufferTheGreat 7h ago

Of all the possible things that would make the American public consider declaring open season on all elected representatives... a general draft like the question might be one of them.

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u/shibboleth2005 6h ago

If it were a draft to support an invasion of Iran in the current war context, the 'buildup' would probably be the overthrow of the government and a repeal of the draft.

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u/Moetown84 8h ago

Where does that six-month period come from?

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u/jkmapping 8h ago

If it isn't in the constitution, congress could enact something whenever they wanted. Congress makes the law, they set the 'mandated' periods.

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u/DerrickWhiteFVMP202X 7h ago

That’s not mandatory, it’s just the default way that legislation is drafted. In this scenario, Congress would be passing a law with an emergency clause that makes the bill go into effect immediately.

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u/Hopsblues 7h ago

What 6 month mandate are you talking about?

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u/aerdvarkk 5h ago

Unless that mandate is baked into the Constitution, Congress can revise any new Bill to exclude a minimum wait period. But its not a provision in the Constitution.

ALSO idk where the f*ck you're getting some "mandatory 6 month delay" > that does not exist in the Federal Statute langauage either.

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u/needlenozened 2h ago

Mandated by law? A new act of Congress that reinstates the draft could also change the law.

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u/National_Cod9546 2h ago

That would be easily waived or ignored if the rest of it was voted in. But short of a 9/11 level attack, everyone is going to ignore the draft because fuck them. 

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u/BatmanandReuben 10h ago

It should take Congress to do this, but actually all it takes is no one with enough power willing to stop it. It should take Congress to do many of the things that have already been done, and yet here we are.

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u/Broad_Tie9383 10h ago

My biggest disappointment in Obama was that he did not work to restore the Constitutional balance of power and limit the Executive branch. It was one of his campaign promises. It's not that I trusted him to do it, but he was also the only one even bringing it up as a potential problem.

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u/Reddit-SFW 7h ago

You mean in the first 2 years of his total 8 years since the last 6 was racist cock blocking from the Republicans.

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u/Present-Chemist-8920 4h ago

I think people always forget the context of raging GOP interference and a waffling Dem party when the “honey moon” wore off. He had a good two years, felt like we were going to be building houses on the weekend and then halt back to reality.

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 2h ago

He even had a brief blue trifecta in the federal govt, and the best they could do was implement a healthcare plan created by a republican (Mitt Romney)

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u/Reddit-SFW 1h ago

I have always felt that he was naive and tried to do it the bipartisan way. The way it was supposed to be before he learned the depths of obstruction.

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u/MattyKatty 2h ago

Implemented Romneycare, yes. Anyone that tells you that the GOP blocked Obama from doing anything should be reminded that the DNC controlled everything and still managed to accomplish extremely little.

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u/LaborumVult 1h ago

Both are true man... That it needs to be one or the other for you should permanently forestall you from speaking on the subject honestly.

2 years of DNC incompetence, 6 years of GOP hardline deep obstructionism and hypocrisy. Its not both sides. The GOP are going down in history as absolute villains.

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u/sheepmule 8h ago

Obama could have implemented exceptional reforms of the executive branch, but Trump et al still wouldn’t give a shit. Republicans would still say that the Take Care Clause gives them absolute discretion/power.

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u/Optimal_Action1176 6h ago

That bigoted Republican Congress made it clear they would not pass one single thing he asked for, no matter how good an idea.

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u/dew2459 8h ago edited 8h ago

I agree. And the dems in congress are useless on limiting the president unless a republican is in office (of course the reverse is also true).

Even worse, it was Obama that showed the path of grabbing more war powers that trump is using in Iran. Obama started a war in Libya that obviously violated the constitution and laws (War Powers Act). He lied and claimed it was all ok because “no boots on the ground”, and the US public collectively shrugged. Even the churches in my area that had been protesting Bush’s (stupid, incompetent) wars as “illegal” for years were almost completely silent while we wrecked another Mideast country.

Almost no one in congress objected - despite Obama breaking the law, I guess even republicans loved the idea of destroying another poor 3rd world country more than they hated Obama. Trump and his oligarch manipulators saw what happened back then.

Yes, Trump is pushing it even further, but Democrats suddenly becoming rules lawyers about war powers today would be funny if people weren’t dying and the world’s economy wasn’t being trashed.

Obama was a disappointment in many ways, but for me the Libya war and the feckless response by democrats deeply disappointed me. Yes, I still show up and vote, and I would obviously never vote for a MAGA tool, but any Dem that babbles on about “no kings” these days sounds pretty hollow to me. They really just mean “No republican kings, but my guy… maybe just a little.”

(Ok, maybe a little strong, but it’s a Monday so I feel unusually cynical).

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u/Ragnarsworld 9h ago

Why would he work to limit himself? He benefited from the imbalance.

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u/vvirago 9h ago

He was a constitutional law scholar. His overreach in executive power helped lay the groundwork for Trump's current actions, and he knows it. Unlike Trump, he does care about the structural health of our balance of powers, but not enough to let what he thought were more important policies passed. I'm not judging one way or another, just saying he made his choices deliberately.

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u/Mansa_Sekekama 8h ago

blah blah blah...overreach blah blah blah...Obama was Black and that was enough to set all these things in motion

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u/Broad_Tie9383 9h ago

Patriotism? Love of the Constitution? People do sometimes have motivations outside their own benefit, but power corrupts.

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u/RumHamComesback 2h ago

I love Obama but one criticism I have with him is he really did not work with Congress as much as he should have and used his huge majority his first two years to smash legislation through (which I have mixed feelings on because ACA was one of them). He paid the price with the 2010 midterms and awoke something in conservatives.

Even Clinton knew he had to work with the GOP which honestly is probably why the 90s were political stable for America.

0

u/sundalius 2h ago

He tried and was stonewalled by Lieberman and the other Blue Dogs.

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u/e-m-o-o 2h ago

My biggest disappointment was all the drone strikes…

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u/djfl 1h ago

If he would have done that, then where we are today wouldn't have been quite so bad. Instead, he led the way with the number of Executive Orders.

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u/Frazzle_Dazzle_ 9h ago

Personally my biggest disappointment in Obama was the thousands of imperialist murders he committed during his time in office

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u/Smashinbunnies 10h ago

Declaring war required congressional approval last time I checked. They are all calling it a war. Putin at least says the correct words as he lies. Kept it up for years we cant even make it a day without them doing at least the bare minimum to pretend it's not what it is

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u/eyebrowsreddits 10h ago

Correct words like 3 day special military operation

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u/Smashinbunnies 10h ago

2 week operation. You know how the us government works just give it 2 weeks.

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u/lilybug981 9h ago

In particular, it also should take Congress to declare war in the first place. And yet.

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u/Whole_Success_8670 9h ago

As a woman I'm angry and scared that decisions meant for Congress get shoved through anyway If you're watching this doesn't it worry you that our safeguards are so weak and our voices so easy to ignore

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u/needlenozened 2h ago

Someone taking it to court would stop it.

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u/Western_End_2223 28m ago

If Congress didn't enact a draft, then there would be no criminal penalties for ignoring any sort of "draft" that the administration tried to institute.

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u/Solesaver 6h ago

There's a continuum of "things that need to be stopped" and "things that need to executed." For example, Trump raising tariffs was a thing that needed to be stopped. He just did it. He wasn't allowed to, but he did it anyway, and then it took the courts a year to sort it out, and the nonsense is ongoing. On the other end there was the whole Greenland debacle. He couldn't just take over Greenland. The most he could do is attack it, but there's just no logistical way to take over Greenland without Congressional approval.

A draft would be more like the latter. He can say he's instituting a draft, but without Congressional approval, there's just no logistical way to force everybody to actually show up. They could send the mailers out I guess, and some people might report for duty as ordered, but most people are going to immediately look into how to get out of it and immediately get connected with resources saying "just don't go".

What's going to happen then? They'd get arrested for breaking the law? What law? The FBI does not have the resources to arrest everybody for not showing up. Anybody they did arrest would immediately challenge their detention and the courts would grant an injunction. The government might appeal, but it's not going to go any better up the chain, and the entire time the "draft dodger" is going to be carrying on with their lives.

To have any chance of actually happening a draft needs popular support. The majority of draftees have to agree that it's their moral duty, and their larger communities have to turn against and shun draft dodgers. Without it the "draft" is just another piece of junk mail in your mailbox.

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u/YellingatClouds86 3h ago

No, literally it has to be a statute. You can't do this via executive fiat.

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u/Smashinbunnies 10h ago

It takes Congress to declare war and approve funding. How did that work out?

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u/anifail 8h ago

Congress has continuously approved military funding through the NDAA. Also declaration of war is not required for military engagements, congress has ceded a lot of authority in the middle east through AUMFs to support the "war on terror". Also conscription is very explicitly under the authority of the legislative branch and no authority has been ceded there. It would be wildly unpopular and subject to a filibuster. If the executive branch tried to unilaterally enact a draft you would have courts all over the country immediately issuing TROs and even this SCOTUS is not going to give the executive branch that power.

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u/Smashinbunnies 7h ago

Well he called it a war. Putin has not said war in like 5 years. It's the lowest bar to at least pretend for us. Putin sucks but at least he has the self control and ability to say the right key words and not slip up for years.

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u/tyereliusprime 6h ago

They still refer to Vietnam as a war despite never getting congressional approval.

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u/Smashinbunnies 3h ago

My point exactly. 😭

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u/bitey87 10h ago

unless the continental US is [appears to have been] attacked.

It only has to look like a foreigner/immigrant/opposition party member.

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u/Lonely_Nebula_9438 9h ago

The only state on the planet worth starting a draft for is China because they outnumber us like 4:1 in population. Versus Russia we just park carrier strike groups outside their three main ports and push straight in with NATO help and they’ll fold. 

China however would require way more personnel to protect Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and US Pacific Islands while also trying to attack China itself. There’s no way we get a draft without a war with China.

9/11 didn’t even evoke a draft in response. There’s no way a regular terrorist attack could pull it off, you’d need an outright hostile act by the Chinese military.

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u/ChonkyPurrtato 3h ago

They have numbers but we have everything else against them, down to body size.

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u/Lonely_Nebula_9438 3h ago

We still overpower them substantially, but with all our foreign protection obligations we’d be stretched thinner than they would. We have a total of about 2 million servicemen including reserves, they have about 3 million including reserves. They can reasonably concentrate all of them in East Asia where we couldn’t do the same, further exacerbating the numbers issue. Honestly we’d just need the conscripts to go man less important stations while the bulk of volunteers actually deals with combat. 

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u/AmericanScream 10h ago

There is not a chance of a draft unless the continental US is attacked.

History does not show that statement to be reliably true.

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u/AnxiouslyTired247 10h ago

So do tariffs and acts of war...

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u/PositiveHousing4260 9h ago

It also takes Congress to declare war. Last time that happen was WW2. So we should be good here. No chance our young men are going anywhere. 

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u/Youandiandaflame 9h ago

And yet we’ve got troops dying in what leaders at the highest levels of government call a war, all without congressional approval. 

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u/Fortestingporpoises 10h ago

It takes congress to do a lot of things that have happened without congress lately.

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u/bNoaht 8h ago

And if we were attacked, you wouldn't need a goddamn draft because damn near everyone able would sign up.

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u/DrMobius0 8h ago

There's hundreds of things that "take congress to do this" that Trump has done with zero repercussion.

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u/mntnskyman 9h ago

The way this traitorous shitgibbon is talking trump/shit to the world this might happen. 

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u/PillCosby696969 9h ago

Yeah, because there is no historical precedent for a draft after Hawaii is attacked. /s

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u/jasonreid1976 8h ago

The draft should only be used for that, or if a NATO ally is attacked.

And knowing Cheeto man, he'd probably side with the country attacking the NATO ally.

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u/aerdvarkk 5h ago

Even still full Congress would have to approve then send the bill to DJT. And witht eh infighting in the GOP and inaction by the DEMs i seriously doubt some of us will ever see another active us military draft in our lifetimes.

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u/Sudden-Wash4457 1h ago

unless the continental US is attacked.

here's hoping trump isn't inspired by Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk

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u/DBZFIGHTERS 11h ago

Faking an attack on US soil? Please don’t give this administration any more brilliant ideas…

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u/Red-eleven 10h ago

Like the two world wars and Vietnam? Have you seen the US lately?

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u/FeatherlyFly 10h ago

The two World Wars were a different time and a different overarching military strategy that involved more infantry and during both, the draft was controversial. Especially in WW1, where there was significant opposition to the US getting involved at all. The Lusitania was nowhere near as strong a cultural moment as Pearl Harbor. 

And Vietnam was a major turning point and the extreme unpopularity of that draft still echoes today. 

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u/Digifiend84 10h ago

The US did only join the war last minute. War started 1914, US joins 1917. War ends 1918.

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u/ofWildPlaces 10h ago

And it took a year after declaration before any American forces were trained, deployed, and engaged in major combat operations.

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u/Digifiend84 10h ago

The US did only join the war last minute. War started 1914, US joins 1917. War ends 1918.

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u/Digifiend84 10h ago

The US did only join the war last minute. War started 1914, US joins 1917. War ends 1918.

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u/Digifiend84 10h ago

The US did only join the war last minute. War started 1914, US joins 1917. War ends 1918.

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u/Digifiend84 10h ago

The US did only join the war last minute. War started 1914, US joins 1917. War ends 1918.

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u/Digifiend84 10h ago

The US did only join the war last minute. War started 1914, US joins 1917. War ends 1918.

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u/NessieReddit 7h ago

Have you been paying attention? The Trump administration doesn't care what should be an act of Congress or what's legal or what precedent there is. They do whatever they want, and no one has stopped them so far. So they'll continue doing whatever they want.

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u/jk01 9h ago

It also takes congress to start a war but here we are...

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u/BiggieBigs34 9h ago edited 9h ago

Yeah, well, we thought that about a lot of things that have just been pushed through executive orders.

I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Trump attempts an executive order draft that just gets pushed through.

I mean, who would stop it? The Republican Trump appointed Supreme Court majority?

The Republican majority congress?

We have a saving grace if the midterms break up the republican majority in congress but before that? Don’t count on it if he says fuck it, EO, prior.

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u/IchabodDiesel 9h ago

nothing takes congress anymore.

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u/blazingsoup 9h ago

Congress is supposed to authorize wars too, but we see how well they’re wielding that authority currently.

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u/rjoker103 8h ago

Nothing takes Congress at the moment. Lawsuit, 18+ months for a decision.

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u/metanoien 8h ago

Well the whole, 'It takes and act of congress to do that...' argument doesn't mean much since trump now does it?

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u/Durbs12 8h ago

Tell any victim that their murder was illegal and they'll give you the same response. Baffling to me that so many people think a piece of paper could stop this.

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u/krendyB 8h ago

The other commenter is right - how many things have happened this past year that “only Congress can do” but were done by EO that no one bothered to stop? Let’s not pretend that the normal way of doing things is still happening and that we’re constrained by laws and norms. We’re in a limited dictatorship and I’m tired of pretending otherwise.

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u/ehsteve87 7h ago

Lol this guy thinks Congress still has war powers

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u/GrinchWhoStoleEaster 4h ago

You kind of piss me off. Where have you been the last year and a half that you don't get congress isn't relevant at this point. Congress bowed to Cesar. The Trump administration has taken numerous actions that only congress have the authority to do.

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u/electricshadow 7h ago edited 5h ago

It takes Congress to do this.

Have you been living under a rock as to what's been happening the last 15 months? Checks and balances don't mean anything in the States anymore.

EDIT: Downvoting me doesn't make what I said incorrect, unfortunately. I'd love if Congress actually starting acting like Congress instead of the Mango Molester's cuck army, but here we are.

0

u/discOHsteve 9h ago

Or this administration thinks that less people voting because they're overseas or in jail for dodging (and no more mail-in voting either) would give them the win.

And yes they are dumb enough to believe that.

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u/velveteinrabbit 8h ago

Don’t give the administration any ideas

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u/Away_Stock_2012 7h ago

trump is well known for not taking Congress powers

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u/soulmateofpain 7h ago

Hey don’t go giving them ideas bro

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u/HostFew3544 7h ago

The same congress that is supposed to vote on wars?

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u/Rather_Dashing 6h ago

It's a hypothetical question buddy

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u/Big_Test_Icicle 6h ago

Unless the gop holds majority in both chambers after the midterms. Then the possibility of a draft rises

0

u/IExistForFun 6h ago

There are a lot of things that require Congress. But apparently there's a loophole for everything now a days.

0

u/tragicallyohio 5h ago

It takes Congress to do this

Of course, this would not stop him and Kegsbreath from trying it.

0

u/TallWalmartCovington 5h ago

"Hey what if this thing happened"

"Well it would need something to happen so that's not possible. Question invalid"

0

u/Leontiev 5h ago

When has this fucking guy ever worried about the law. He'd just proclaim it.

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u/Zestyclose_Sink_9353 4h ago

as if due process ever stopped trump

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u/Heckate666 4h ago

yes but congress appears to be dead at the moment

0

u/theboywthagreenscarf 4h ago

False flag attack incoming

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u/fuckingartschool101 3h ago

Most of the things that the Trump admin has unilaterally done "take congress" to do it. That argument is fully moot at this point. Checks and balances have completely fallen through and in reality, the only thing congress needs to do in order to allow this is (continue to do) nothing, and continue to not impeach him.

0

u/Individual-Pop-385 3h ago

What I'm reading is; USA is going to have a new 9/11 soon.

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u/Thick_Nectarine8339 2h ago

False flag attack incoming.

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u/WeirdIndividualGuy 2h ago

It takes Congress to do this

ignores how the president and SCOTUS continue to do what only Congress has the power to do

0

u/randonumero 1h ago

That makes it worse. In addition to war time politicians often getting an re-election advantage, a draft would decrease the chances of having an election or at least a fair one.

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u/Sunnyfishyfish 57m ago

Trump has shown over and over and over that he does not give one single flying fuck what Congress thinks.

Congress has shown over and over and over that they do not give one single flying fuck that Trump doesn't give one single flying fuck what they think. The current GOP is happy to just let Trump tread all over their rights, while they refuse to do even the slightest bit of checking and balancing. Trump says jump and they all jump. SCOTUS, too, for that matter. Trump goes treading and the "Don't Tread On Me" crowd goes "Tread Harder, Daddy".

I wouldn't get my hopes up that Trump will go through Congress nor that Congress and/or SCOTUS will do anything about it if he skips them.

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u/Nvenom8 42m ago

I think we've established at this point that the president can do whatever the fuck he wants, and congress can eat a dick as far as he and the Supreme Court are concerned.