A federal judge refused to block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes employees, ruling their CBS interview was official speech not protected by the First Amendment.
A federal judge on Friday cleared the way for the Pentagon to fire three senior Stars and Stripes employees, rejecting their claim that the dismissals violated their First Amendment rights.
U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee in Washington, refused to block the separations of publisher Max Lederer, editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and Middle East reporter Lara Korte while their wrongful termination lawsuit proceeds. The three were removed last month after participating in a CBS interview about the military newspaper's editorial independence.
McFadden ruled that Slavin and Korte spoke in their official capacities as government employees during the interview, not as private citizens, which means the First Amendment does not protect that speech. He wrote that the paper's editorial independence "is not at stake here."
"In short, when government employees provide public commentary in their official capacity, their speech is government speech, and the First Amendment does not apply," the judge wrote. He also noted that the interviews were pre-approved and that the two "largely toed the company line," undercutting claims that the firings chilled protected expression.
"Plaintiffs argue that their termination will chill the protected expression of themselves and others at Stripes," McFadden wrote. "Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate a chill here."
The separations stem from a broader Pentagon effort this year to restore accountability at Stars and Stripes, which is owned and partly funded by the Defense Department. The department repealed long-standing regulations that had emphasized the paper's editorial independence and issued guidance requiring content to be consistent with good order and discipline.
Separation notices charged Slavin and Korte with insubordination for the CBS interview. Lederer, who was nearing retirement, declined to carry out the firings and chose to retire instead; his notice also cited his public concerns about the department's modernization plan for the paper.
The Pentagon's modernization push has already touched the outlet's oversight structure. The paper's ombudsman, a role Congress created to watch over its independence, was removed in April.
The journalists argued their firings were retaliation for a Stars and Stripes report detailing food and water shortages, disrupted mail service and mental health struggles aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during its extended Middle East deployment. Lederer said he was told to fire the two the day after that story published.
Government lawyers said the Pentagon began preparing the separation notices weeks before the carrier story ran and called the alleged link a "red herring." McFadden sided with the department, noting Lederer had received criticism about the CBS interview before the story appeared.
Attorneys for the three employees, backed by a coalition of government accountability groups and a Yale Law School clinic, argued that public employees do not surrender free speech rights by taking a government job. They said the ruling only addressed the preliminary injunction request and vowed to press on with the case.
"While we are disappointed in the decision, we fully expect to prevail after we have an opportunity to take discovery and all the facts are revealed," attorney Taryn Wilgus Null said.
Friday's ruling is not the final word. The lawsuit continues through discovery, and the three journalists said in a joint statement that they are weighing their next steps. They maintain that the Pentagon should not be able to fire journalists for defending the outlet's independence.
The case is another chapter in the administration's push to hold federally funded institutions accountable, and McFadden is no stranger to press-related disputes. He previously ordered the White House to restore full press access for The Associated Press after it was barred from presidential events, though that ruling was tied to content-based retaliation rather than on-duty speech.
For now, the Pentagon's position stands: employees of a taxpayer-funded publication who step out of line while on the clock answer for it like any other federal worker.
A federal judge refused to block the Pentagon from firing three Stars and Stripes employees, ruling their CBS interview was official speech not protected by the First Amendment.
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