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Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Elizabeth Warren
Democrat·Massachusetts

In New Response to Warren, Pentagon Reveals Interference with Stars and Stripes Mission That Threatens Censorship, Media Independence

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Home Newsroom Press Releases May 14, 2026 In New Response to Warren, Pentagon Reveals Interference with Stars and Stripes Mission That Threatens Censorship, Media Independence Pentagon revealed shift in mission and focus of Stars and Stripes on same day it fired Stripes’ advocate for independence “While America is at war, the Trump administration is hellbent on silencing our key military newspaper and attacking service members’ access to the free press.” Text of Response (PDF) Washington, D.C. – In a new response to a recent letter from U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), the Pentagon reveals interference that threatens the media independence of Stars and Stripes , the military’s editorially independent newspaper. The response was prepared the same day the Pentagon fired Stripes’ ombudsman, its advocate for independence. “While America is at war, the Trump administration is hellbent on silencing our key military newspaper and attacking service members’ access to the free press. Every American should be concerned about this blatant censorship,” said Senator Warren. In the new response, the Pentagon reiterated that “Stripes will remain editorially independent of the military chain of command, military public affairs activities, or other external influences, and without censorship or propaganda,” but multiple other points in the letter reveal the Pentagon interfering with the mission of the paper and shifting toward censorship and propaganda. Highlights include: The Pentagon explains Stripes ’ mission as to “deliver content, specifically relevant to Service members and their families, that is not usually covered by commercial media .” The Pentagon also describes Stripes as a “publication that serves the U.S. military community [and] operates in support of good order and discipline of the military. ” The Pentagon called First Amendment protections for the military newspaper “unnecessary.” In response to questions from the lawmakers about why it removed a Stripes regulation that called for the newspaper to “[keep] with the principles of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” the Pentagon called the rule “unnecessary principally,” stating that “there was no need for it to be in the Code of Federal Regulations.” The 1994 regulations that the Pentagon revoked in January were implemented after years-long oversight investigations from Congress and GAO uncovered systemic issues of censorship at Stripes . The regulations incorporated many of Congress’s and GAO’s recommendations and reforms, including the appointment of a civilian editor in chief an

Source: https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/in-new-response-to-warren-pentagon-reveals-interference-with-stars-and-stripes-mission-that-threatens-censorship-media-independence
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Record ID: 58589c68-ef3f-4e87-b6d1-4501ff5ad6dd

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