Stars and Stripes job applicants are asked if they back Trump policies; The Washington Post, January 14, 2026

Liam Scott, The Washington Post; Stars and Stripes job applicants are asked if they back Trump policies

"Applicants for positions at the U.S. military newspaper Stars and Stripes are being asked how they would support the president’s policy priorities, raising concerns among some staffers and media watchers about the prospects for the historic outlet’s editorial independence.

First published during the Civil War and continually published since World War II, Stars and Stripes reports on and for the U.S. military community. While it is partly funded by the Pentagon and its staffers are Defense Department employees, Congress has mandated the publication’s independence and taken measures to guarantee it.

But in recent months, applicants for positions at the publication — which reaches about 1.4 million people a day across its platforms, according to the publisher — have been asked: “How would you advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”

That question has prompted worries about whether President Donald Trump’s administration is seeking to influence the newspaper’s independence by making an ideological litmus test part of the hiring process, a concern one administration official said was unjustified.

Stars and Stripes leadership was not aware that applicants were being asked that question until The Washington Post inquired about it this month, according to Jacqueline Smith, the newspaper’s ombudsman, a congressionally mandated position charged with defending the newspaper’s editorial independence.

“Asking prospective employees how they would support the administration’s policies is antithetical to Stripes’ journalistic and federally mandated mission,” Smith said. “Journalistically, it’s against ethics, because reporters or any staff member — editors, photographers — should be impartial.”

Smith confirmed that applicants are being asked that question when applying for Stars and Stripes positions on USAJobs, the U.S. government’s employment site. The Office of Personnel Management, not the newspaper’s leadership, was responsible for adding the question, she added."