The Pentagon dismissed three Stars and Stripes journalists after the military newspaper reported on deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, homeported in Coronado.

Publisher Max D. Lederer Jr., editor-in-chief Erik Slavin and reporter Lara Korte were notified Aug. 21 that they would be fired for insubordination, according to UPI. The Pentagon cited a July 5 CBS Sunday Morning segment in which Slavin and Korte defended the paper's editorial independence.

The sequence, according to a lawsuit the three filed Thursday, Aug. 27, in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., began the day after Stars and Stripes published its Aug. 11 story on conditions aboard the Lincoln. Politico reported that the Pentagon instructed Lederer on Aug. 12 to fire Slavin and Korte. When he refused, all three received separation notices.

The lawsuit names Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell, Principal Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Andrew Brey and the Department of Defense as defendants. The Democracy Defenders Fund and three other legal organizations filed the suit on behalf of the journalists.

Stars and Stripes' reporting described shortages, deteriorating living conditions and serious concerns about sailors' mental health aboard the Lincoln. The carrier departed Naval Air Station North Island in late November 2025 with approximately 5,000 sailors and endured about nine months at sea with only two brief port visits.

That reporting carried particular weight in Coronado and greater San Diego, where many crew members and their families live.

"We were the first to report many of the details on what was going on aboard the carrier, and that was the product of several weeks of interviews with sailors, with their families, and we were very thorough with it," Slavin told New York Magazine on Thursday, Aug. 27. He said his separation notice came approximately 10 days after the story published.

The firings were not the Pentagon's first move against Stars and Stripes staff. Ombudsman Jacqueline Smith was previously dismissed after she criticized proposed restrictions on the paper. In January, Parnell posted on X accusing the paper of focusing on "woke distractions that syphon morale." In March, the Pentagon unveiled a plan that included prohibiting comics and editorial cartoons without approval, Axios reported.

A federal judge granted a temporary reprieve. U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden held a hearing Friday, Aug. 28, and the Pentagon agreed not to proceed with the firings before Friday, Sept. 4. McFadden set that date for a hearing on an injunction that would keep the journalists employed while the case moves forward. Politico reported that McFadden, a Trump appointee, sounded skeptical at times, noting the journalists had sought and received approval from superiors before the CBS appearance. He suggested their comments may have been official speech not protected under Supreme Court precedent.

UPI and Politico reported that the Pentagon had not responded to requests for comment as of Aug. 28.

The dismissals follow weeks of scrutiny over the Lincoln's deployment. Family members raised concerns about mental health crises, food shortages and exhaustion at a town hall Aug. 6 at Naval Air Station North Island. Rep. Sara Jacobs called on the House Armed Services Committee to hold a field hearing in San Diego and asked the Pentagon inspector general to investigate conditions aboard the ship, CBS 8 reported.

The Friday, Sept. 4, injunction hearing will determine whether the three journalists keep their jobs while the lawsuit proceeds.