Judge Trevor McFadden declined to prevent the Department of Defense from firing Stars and Stripes journalists and the publication's publisher.
Posted by The Lawfare Podcast, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 92%
The Lawfare PodcastSep 14, 2026
Multiple tier-1 and tier-2 sources (AP, Reuters, NBC, CNN) report that Judge Trevor McFadden denied the request to block the Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes staff, including publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte.
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
What was said
… Right, all right, well, let we will keep an eye on it, a ja-, a very jaundiced eye, um, and, um, uh, and remember, may all your conspiracies be grand. Um, uh, speaking of people who have lost their jobs, um, uh, Judge Geneva isn't the only one. Judge uh Trevor McFadden has declined to prevent the Defense Department from firing uh a pair of Stars and Stripes journalist and the uh publications publisher. Um, Anna, what's going on here, and, um, ah, is this the end of Stars and Stripes? Well, it, it seems for now to be the end of, ah, these individuals' employment at Stars and Stripes, um, but I don't, I don't know that it's the end of Stars and Stripes. …
The Lawfare Podcast · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. AP reports that a federal judge refused to block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes staff members, and names publisher Max Lederer among the plaintiffs.[1]
Supports. NBC and CNN report that McFadden denied temporary restraining order requests from publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte, allowing the firings to proceed.[3][4]
Supports. Stars and Stripes and USA Today report the judge declined to block the firing of the three employees, ruling the dismissals likely did not violate the First Amendment.[5][6]
Context. The post's 'pair' count is inconsistent with sources reporting three dismissed staff, but the extracted claim omits any count, so the discrepancy is peripheral.[1][2]
Sources
6 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 2 tier 2, 2 not rated
- 1Judge won't block Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Pentagon fires US military newspaper leadership - Reutersreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 3Judge allows Pentagon to fire three Stars and Stripes journalistsnbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4Federal judge allows Pentagon to fire three Stars and Stripes ... - CNNcnn.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 5Judge declines to block firing of Stars and Stripes journalistsstripes.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6US Judge won't stop Pentagon from firing Stars and Stripes journalistsusatoday.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- A judge allowed the Pentagon to fire Stars and Stripes journalists.True
- Judge McFadden determined that the Stars and Stripes employees were acting within their official capacity when they gave the CBS News interview.True
- Pete Hegseth made a regulatory change repealing editorial independence that Stars and Stripes previously had.True
- The editor-in-chief and two reporters for Stars and Stripes were terminated after giving comments on CBS News regarding editorial independence.Mixed
- Stars and Stripes is funded by the Defense Department.True