Judge Refuses to Block the Pentagon From Firing Three Stars and Stripes Journalists, Saying Editorial Independence "Is Not at Stake"

On September 4, 2026, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden refused to block the Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte. The three had sued the Defense Department and Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying they were punished for a CBS News interview objecting to potential military censorship and for a report on conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. McFadden, a Trump appointee, found they gave the interviews as public employees rather than private citizens and wrote that the firings, "whatever else such a scheme may violate," do not clearly offend the First Amendment.

The ruling leaves the Pentagon free to remove the leadership of the military's congressionally chartered newspaper while the underlying lawsuit proceeds. It turns on the doctrine that speech made as part of official duties gets little First Amendment protection, a framework that gives the executive wide latitude over what its own employees, including journalists it partly funds, may say.

The denial is of a preliminary injunction only. Plaintiffs' counsel said they expect to prevail after discovery. The same judge presides over the Associated Press's access lawsuit, in which the administration's appeal is pending.