Pentagon gains leverage over Stars and Stripes as judge declines to block firings

A federal judge refused to block the Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes journalists and allowed the military to push for greater editorial control over the outlet, ruling the terminations were connected to pre‑approved interviews by public employees and not clearly a First Amendment violation. The decision tempers the journalists’ bid to reinstate them and comes amid other lawsuits alleging Pentagon interference with the paper’s editorial independence, underscoring ongoing tensions over autonomy at a military publication partly funded by the Defense Department.