Pentagon officials mulling the firing of military newspaper Stars and Stripes publisher

The Pentagon is considering the removal of the publisher who oversees the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, Fox News Digital has confirmed.

Max Lederer, who has led the paper for 19 years, announced his retirement to staff on Tuesday, saying he intends to step down at the end of September.

However, Pentagon leadership may terminate him beforehand. One U.S. official familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital his "poor job performance" as publisher is the main factor but that "insubordination pushed it over the edge." CBS News first reported on the potential ouster.

"Max has wasted two decades as publisher while the Stars and Stripes languished under his lethargic, lazy leadership," one Pentagon employee who works closely with Lederer told Fox News Digital. "He’s a typical slob of a bureaucrat who wastes taxpayer money, never gets held accountable for doing a bad job, and cannot even handle basic tasks like attending meetings or responding to emails. He should’ve been removed years ago, but that’s government in a nutshell."

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Lederer, an Army veteran who joined Stars and Stripes in 1992, told staff he was choosing to retire due to "fundamental" differences he had with Pentagon leadership on the direction of the paper.

"I have thought a great deal about the right time to step aside, and I have concluded that this is it," Lederer wrote, according to a Stars and Stripes report on his retirement. "I leave with real pride in what we have accomplished together and with complete confidence in what you will accomplish next."

"For decades, Max Lederer championed the interests of service members and their families by supporting their access to credible reporting, independent of the military chain of command," Stars and Stripes editor-in-chief Erik Slavin said in a statement.

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There are competing narratives about whether Stars and Stripes is struggling. Pentagon sources allege a decline both digitally and in print — claiming from 2019 to 2024, unique visitors to its website fell 30% from 20 million per year to 14 million. They also say print deliveries also declined in that same period from seven million annually to 6.2 million. The 2019 stats stem from a 2021 congressional letter sent by Rep. Jason Crow, D-Colo., and then-Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Az., and were juxtaposed with the 2024 stats listed on Stars and Stripes' website.

However, a source familiar with Stars and Stripes operations disputed the paper's digital struggles, citing 42 million page views from August 2025 to July 2026 as well as "strong growth in video and social engagement." The source also cited 23 million unique visitors during that same period, according to its Google Analytics, and noted that the 6.2 million printed copies only account for the U.S. weekly edition of the paper, which does not include the copies distributed to service members abroad.  

The source claimed that 2024 was specifically an "unusual year" due to systemic outages and tech issues that plagued the outlet. 

There was also a discrepancy regarding how much of its budget comes from federal funds, as a Pentagon source claims up to 65% comes from taxpayer dollars, while the source familiar with the paper's operations insists it's just roughly half. The annual budget is between $27–$29 million.

Sources tell Fox News Digital that Lederer faces criticism for failing to modernize the paper and the outlet's overreliance on newswire services instead of original reporting, allotting $411,000 of its budget toward them in 2026. However, the paper has since cut back on wire service spending, Fox News Digital has learned.

"Max Lederer has served his country for 40 years as a former Army officer and Stars and Stripes employee. The characterization being circulated about him does not reflect the leadership he has provided in running a global, 24/7 news operation across multiple continents," a source close to Stars and Stripes told Fox News Digital.

Neither Lederer nor Stars and Stripes responded to Fox News Digital's requests for comment.

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The Pentagon kicked off 2026 by announcing its overhaul of the long-running newspaper.

"The Department of War is returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters," chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell posted on X in January. "We are bringing Stars & Stripes into the 21st century. We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members."

Parnell continued, "Stars & Stripes will be custom tailored to our warfighters. It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints. Stars & Stripes has a proud legacy of reporting news that’s important to our service members. The Department of War is committed to ensuring the outlet continues to reflect that proud legacy."

The Pentagon previously fired the Stars and Stripes ombudsman in April after being an outspoken critic of the Trump administration's oversight of the paper.