Judge Sides With Pentagon, Rejects Fired Stars and Stripes Employees' Injunction Request

Three fired Stars and Stripes employees, as RedState previously wrote, filed suit against the War Department and several of its leaders, claiming that the actions were a form of "retaliation" and violated the journalists' First Amendment rights. The publisher Max Lederer, editor in chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte asked a judge to impose an injunction on the Pentagon's firing them.

Korte said in a statement:

After being told we were fired for insubordination, my colleagues and I today filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Defense Department, Pete Hegseth, Sean Parnell and Andrew Brey seeking to protect our First Amendment rights. 

Everyone deserves the right to a free and independent press, especially our service members. This lawsuit is about safeguarding the mission of Stars and Stripes journalists so they can continue to do their jobs without fear or retaliation.

To put it simply, on Friday the judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia told them no. 

JUST IN: Judge McFadden has rejected the injunction requested by Stars & Stripes journalists who said the Pentagon's effort to fire them violated thier First Amendment speech. https://t.co/Zlq7yuT7fh pic.twitter.com/1zp0Ep8NXk

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) September 4, 2026

Just The News shared the highlights:

Judge Trevor McFadden issued the decision shortly after the hearing that looked at whether two of the three employees were acting within the scope of their roles when they gave interviews to “CBS Sunday Morning” about the historical editorial independence of the newspaper, according to The Hill. 

The three staffers include publisher Max Lederer, Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte. They alleged in the lawsuit filed last week that the Department of War is retaliating against them for publicly expressing concerns about the paper’s future editorial independence under current Pentagon leadership.

“Plaintiffs’ own pleadings and the CBS News segment suggest that they spoke as part of their official duties and not as private citizens,” the judge wrote. “They are thus unlikely to succeed on the merits of their First Amendment claim and do not demonstrate irreparable harm.”

There's more, though. Saturday morning, a new motion was just filed by nonprofit legal advocacy group Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP):

Reporters Cmte for Freedom of Press files motion asking judge to BLOCK Pete Hegseth's firings of three Stars & Stripes journalists

Group cites prior court ruling "Stars & Stripes and its employees should be afforded 1st Amendment protections.. just like private press entities" pic.twitter.com/nenTGVXE02

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) September 5, 2026

It's not over, and there's also the possibility the plaintiffs through their attorneys at a different legal group, Democracy Defenders Fund, will appeal the ruling. Stay tuned.

You can read the full decision here. 

Update: Assistant to the Secretary of War for Public Affairs and Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell released a statement on Saturday about the ruling:

A federal judge yesterday denied a request for a preliminary injunction that would have blocked personnel actions at Stars and Stripes.

The court applied settled Supreme Court law: public employees do not receive First Amendment protection when they speak with the government’s… https://t.co/DM1lSJ5m6M

— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellASW) September 5, 2026

"A federal judge yesterday denied a request for a preliminary injunction that would have blocked personnel actions at Stars and Stripes," he wrote. "The court applied settled Supreme Court law: public employees do not receive First Amendment protection when they speak with the government’s voice."

"The record showed these interviews were arranged with supervisor involvement, conducted at Stripes workplaces, and presented the speakers in their official titles, discussing the paper they run," he added. "That is government speech, not private-citizen speech. Stars and Stripes is a Department of War publication funded to inform the military community." 

"The Department has both the authority and the responsibility to ensure it remains focused on the force — warfighting, readiness, and the men and women who serve — rather than becoming a platform for airing employee grievances. We will follow the law and complete the personnel process," Parnell added..

Editor's Note: Thanks to President Trump and War Secretary Pete Hegseth's leadership, the warrior ethos is coming back to America's military.

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