A new draft? Unlikely. But Trump still wants the emergency powers [View all]

A new draft? Unlikely. But Trump still wants the emergency powers
Leavitt’s comments about a possible draft hint at something far more plausible: expanded presidential powers

By Chauncey DeVega
Senior Writer
Published March 16, 2026 6:45AM (EDT)


(Salon) As President Trump’s war against Iran spirals out of control, there is a growing concern he will order a ground invasion to remove the country’s leaders and take control of its vast supplies of oil. The consensus among military and foreign policy experts is that such a move would be disastrous — and that its failure could be catastrophic enough to permanently damage America’s standing as a superpower. But horrible outcomes have, at least to this point, not stopped Trump and his enablers from making irresponsible and dangerous decisions.

The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has authorized deploying elements of a Marine Amphibious Expeditionary Unit and an amphibious-ready group to the Middle East. Such a force typically has 5,000 Marines and sailors, as well as warships, helicopters, jets and other capabilities.

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Reinstating a military draft would face enormous practical and political obstacles. The draft has not been part of American culture for 50 years, and Congress would need to update the Military Selective Service Act. Since the Trump administration has yet to make a coherent case for why this war is necessary, many Americans would likely simply refuse to comply.

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He went further, arguing that Trump’s war against Iran is another symptom of how America’s democratic institutions are rapidly collapsing into authoritarianism: “The emerging lesson of the Iran war may therefore be larger than the conflict itself. It may be a warning about what happens when the constitutional architecture designed to produce careful, informed decisions is weakened or ignored. What remains is a system in which enormous national choices — choices involving lives, resources, and global stability — are made by a very small number of people with very little institutional constraint. And history suggests that such systems rarely make wise decisions for very long.” .....................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/03/16/a-new-draft-unlikely-but-trump-still-wants-the-emergency-powers/