The Scoop
Democrats are trying a new strategy to push back against new restrictions the Pentagon has placed on its longstanding in-house media outlet.
In recent months, the Department of Defense has taken steps to assert its power over Stars and Stripes, the military’s longstanding independent newspaper which sits within the department but has historically operated with broad editorial latitude. In April, the Pentagon fired its ombudsman, the person charged with overseeing the paper’s editorial content and independence and tasked with flagging potential issues to Congress. In a March memo, the department directed the newspaper to publish content consistent with “good order and discipline,” and made a series of content decisions including limiting syndication of external stories.
On Thursday, Senate Democrats announced plans to introduce new legislation aimed at restoring elements of the paper’s independence. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., authored the bill, details of which were shared first with Semafor, requiring that the newspaper exist independently from the military chain of command.
Censorship of news articles by the Pentagon would be prohibited under the legislation, except in the event of extreme circumstances that would endanger the lives of servicemembers. The new legislation would require the publisher of the newspaper to be a civilian outside of the military, and would require the Pentagon to allow Stars and Stripes journalists access to some military events closed to the broader press corps.
“For more than a century and a half, Stars and Stripes has told the story of our nation’s military with accuracy and integrity,” Shaheen said in a statement first shared with Semafor. “Our legislation makes clear that Stars and Stripes’ independence is not negotiable — nor can it be intimidated into only reporting stories that Secretary Hegseth approves of.”
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The editorial independence of Stars and Stripes has emerged as a priority for Democrats amid Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s broader crackdown on critical coverage of the military.
Over the past two years, the Defense Department has implemented new restrictions limiting media access within the department’s headquarters in Washington, and suggested that press credentials could be revoked if journalists sought information the department wanted to keep private. Hegseth has also regularly criticized news media coverage and opted to boost right-leaning media outlets and figures, calling only on partisan media representatives during press conferences and hosting ideological digital creators at the Pentagon.
While Democrats’ power is severely limited in the minority of both chambers of Congress, they have nevertheless loudly complained about restrictions on the press, including Stars and Stripes.
In April, Semafor was first to report on a letter sent by a group of Senate Democrats to the Pentagon seeking information about the changes at Stars and Stripes, and asking whether the department had withheld publication of any stories it deemed negative or critical.
“DoD’s new policy threatens the credibility of Stars and Stripes, and the reliable flow of unbiased news to service members, and contradicts decades of Congressional reforms that guarded against censorship at the paper,” the senators said in a statement to Semafor. “We urge you to immediately rescind DoD’s new policy and restore editorial independence guaranteed by the First Amendment to Stars and Stripes.”
The View From the Pentagon
The department has insisted that its changes to the paper do not amount to infringement on its editorial independence. A Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement earlier this year that the paper would remain independent from leadership, but new changes would modernize its practices and “refocus its content away from woke distractions.”