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, 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. "Hes 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 shouldve been removed years ago, but thats government in a nutshell."

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