First, let me say that I have been meaning to do this since the beginning of the year, and it is not related to current events, so no one should panic about something that is not likely to happen.

I thought it would be best to break up this post into a section dealing with Congress and a section dealing with the courts.

What to watch for in Congress

As you may know, both the House and Senate Armed Services Committees approved amendments last year extending the registration requirement to women. The full House approved a version of the NDAA that included gender neutral SS registration, but the Senate delayed consideration of the NDAA until December. Due to this time crunch, Congress decided to forgo the traditional conference committee process for the NDAA, with the final bill being negotiated by the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate armed services committees. This final bill failed to include several amendments that had been approved by the armed services committees, including the requirement for universal registration.

Politico: Lawmakers drop proposal to add women to the draft as defense bill headaches mount

After the amendment was dropped, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand had this to say:

“To say, ‘Only men are needed,’ in that moment of a national emergency, is outrageous and obscene,” Gillibrand said at a December 8 news conference. In a statement she said she’ll continue to pursue “all legislative routes to implement this policy” through annual defense spending or a standalone bill.

NPR: Despite a defeat in Congress, advocates say they'll keep pushing for women to register for the draft

The time to watch Congress closely on this issue will be when the NDAA markup process begins again, which should be early summer.

What to watch for in the courts

As you also may know, the Supreme Court declined to take up National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System last June. The denial of cert was accompanied by a statement from Justices Sotomayor, Breyer, and perhaps notably Kavanaugh explaining that cert was denied to give Congress more time to consider the recommendation for universal registration from the National Commission on Military, National, and Public Service (ACLU: National Coalition for Men v. Selective Service System).

Noting this statement, ACLU Women's Rights Project Director Ria Tabacco Mar wrote in The Nation after denial of cert:

Though Congress has proved stubbornly resistant to change, a prod from justices across the ideological spectrum provides reason to hope that this time will be different. And, if not, we’ll be knocking at the Supreme Court’s door once again.

The Nation: It’s 2021. Why Are Only Men Required to Register for the Draft?

This article was approvingly retweeted by ACLU National Legal Director David Cole, so this is a good sign for future ACLU involvement in litigation around the discriminatory draft registration law. The fact that Congress failed to fix the problem last year after being given a chance by the Supreme Court should give an opening for a new challenge.

There is also another case pending in federal court in New Jersey initiated by a young woman who tried to register but was denied. It's being handled by a lawyer from the prominent New York firm Boies Schiller Flexner. There haven't been any filings since the woman's motion opposing an administrative stay after the Supreme Court's denial of cert in NCFM v. SSS last June, but nothing has been granted and the case is still live. I will periodically check Pacer for updates on this case.

I will also periodically post updates here when new information becomes available.