Military draft registration is being pushed in two directions in Washington. Two Representatives in Congress are pushing to end the Selective Service System, but before that end comes, women may join the draft.

Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon and Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colorado are waging campaign to abolish the military Selective Service System, which manages draft registration. The two claim that the millions of dollars the agency yearly spends preparing for the possibility of a draft is wasteful.

The Selective Service has budget of $24 million and full time staff of 130. It maintains database of 17 million potential male draftees that can be called to serve in a time of need.

According to the AP, the agency’s director, Lawrence Romo, says the Selective Service is an “inexpensive insurance policy. We are the true backups for the true emergency.”

Currently, men aged 18-25 are required to register for the Selective Service. Those who fail to register can be charged with a felony, but the Justice Department hasn’t prosecuted anyone for that offense since 1986.

However, there are other potential consequences of failing to register, like the loss of financial aid, refusal of employment with the federal government, or denial of U.S. citizenship.

DeFazio says it doesn’t make sense to threaten to penalize unregistered men when the odds of a draft are so slim.

However, others on Capitol Hill are working not to disband the Selective Service, but expand it.

The Obama administration’s decision to lift the ban on women in combat has allowed a potential change in the law compelling only men to register for military draft: drafting women. 

Neither the administration nor congress is in a hurry to make women register for the draft, but they have no other option, according to AP.

Now that front-line jobs are open to female volunteers that can meet the physical requirements of their position, it will be difficult for anyone to make a persuasive argument that women should continue to be exempt from registration, said Diane Mazur, law professor at University of Florida and former Air Force officer.

She said to the AP, “They’re going to have to show that excluding women from the draft actually improves military readiness. I just don’t see how you can make that argument.

Major Mary Jennings Hegar, a California Air National Guard pilot who served three tours in Afghanistan, said that excluding women from the draft promotes the stereotype that women are less capable than men and need to be protected. She continued to say that not every woman can handle a close combat job, but neither can every man.

She commented, “You can’t pick and choose when equality should apply to you. Making generalized statements like, ‘Women are capable of being in combat’ or ‘Women are incapable of being in combat,’ are equally ignorant. People are either competent or they’re not competent.”