The Duty Status Reform Act reorganizes how the military can call reserve component members (National Guard, Reserve forces) to active duty. Currently, the military uses multiple different legal authorities to activate reservists, which creates confusion. This bill consolidates those authorities into four main categories of duty, each with different rules about consent, duration, and purpose.

The bill creates clear rules for when reservists can be ordered to active duty without their consent versus when they must agree. For example, during wars or national emergencies declared by Congress, reservists can be ordered to duty without consent, but they can't be kept on active duty longer than the emergency plus 6 months. The bill also protects reservists' promotion and retirement rights by allowing the President to temporarily suspend those rules during national security emergencies, then automatically extend their service dates by up to 90 days when the suspension ends so they don't lose benefits.

The law also creates a new "remote assignment" category for reservists to do pre-approved work or training from home on their own schedule, without direct military supervision. Additionally, the bill updates rules for National Guard members, making clear that governors can't block federal activation of their Guard units for overseas missions, though they retain some authority over domestic activations. The bill also updates related laws about liability, student loan relief, and family leave to align with these new duty categories.