The White House on Thursday came out in favor of requiring women to register for the military draft, despite the fact it was stripped from the compromise defense policy bill this week.

"The administration believes our military is strongest when we draw from a pool of all eligible recruits," Ned Price, a spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner.

"Although we remain committed to an all-volunteer force that meets the highest standards of performance, applied equitably to all who serve, universal registration both furthers our commitment to equity and serves to sustain our legacy of public service," Price said.

He added: "As old barriers for military service are being removed, the administration supports - as a logical next step - women registering for the Selective Service."

The Pentagon joined the Obama administration in backing efforts to require women turning 18 on or after Jan. 1, 2018 to register for the draft.

"While [Defense] Secretary Carter strongly supports our all-volunteer approach and does not advocate returning to a draft, as he has said in the past, he thinks it makes sense for women to register for selective service just as men must," Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said in a statement.

The measure has drawn mixed reactions from conservatives on Capitol Hill.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, told the New York Times earlier this year that requiring women to register for the draft is "fair" now that the U.S. allows both men and women to serve in combat roles.

Meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz called the proposal "immoral" and suggested colleagues of his who support the measure are "nuts."

"The idea that we would draft our daughters to forcibly bring them into the military and put them in close combat, I think, is wrong," the ex-White House hopeful said at a campaign rally in February. "It is immoral. And if I am president, we ain't doing it."

Jamie McIntyre contributed to this report