Pentagon Orders Stars and Stripes to Stop Publishing This Month

By Mary Anne R. First Posted: Sep 04, 2020 10:08 PM EDT

The Pentagon has directed the military's newspaper to cease publication this month. President Donald Trump, however, will not allow it.

"It will continue to be a wonderful source of information to our Great Military!" Trump tweeted.

The decision came after a report in The Atlantic accuses Trump of insulting soldiers from World War I. Trump strongly denied the allegations and called it a "disgrace."

Members of Congress also rejected the defunding of the military's newspaper, Stars and Stripes.

Congress appealed to Defense Secretary Mark Esper to reinstate the funding. A bipartisan letter signed by 15 members reminded Esper that the department could not cancel a budget program while a temporary resolution to fund the federal government is in effect.

Esper's office said that the decision was "a result of the Defense-wide Review as outlined in the President's Budget Request (PBR) for Fiscal Year 2021."

The statement included the timeline for wrapping up the publication, with the last issue released on Sept. 30.

By the end of January, the organization would be dissolved. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., separately wrote to Esper to say that the paper serves as a "hometown paper" for army members.

Graham's letter said that there is strong support for the Stars and Stripes in Congress.

"In fact, the House Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2021, which passed the House of Representatives on July 31, 2020, included additional funding for the publication, and both houses of Congress have resolutions supporting the mission of the Stars and Stripes," Graham said.

Graham urged Esper not to take actions that would deprive individuals of this publication until Congress has appropriately completed the appropriations process.

The first Stars and Stripers released presses on Nov. 9, 1861 in Bloomfield, Missouri, when forces headed by Ulysses Grant overran the town on the way to Cape Girardeau.

Currently, the Stars and Stripes is printed at sites worldwide and delivered daily to troops, even those on the front lines. The newspaper has been helpful to those on the front lines where the internet is inaccessible.

As the "local paper" for the military, it provides intense and critical coverage of important issues to members of the armed services.

The funding saved by abolishing the newspaper's subsidy would negatively impact the Pentagon's $700 billion, reports said.

It was also reported that it would negatively affect the paper's more than 1.3 million readers, saying that it would "eliminate a symbol of the U.S. commitment to press freedom," according to a USA Today report.

In their letter, the senators said that the Star and Stripes is an important part of the nation's freedom of the press.

"Therefore, we respectfully request that you rescind your decision to discontinue support for Stars and Stripes and that you reinstate the funding necessary for it to continue operations," the senators noted.