A federal judge on Friday ruled that the Pentagon can fire three Stars and Stripes journalists, the latest in a series of blows to press freedoms in the military as the agency has sought to undo the newspaper’s editorial independence.

The Pentagon accused two of the Stars and Stripes journalists of insubordination after one of them had told "CBS Sunday Morning" in a July interview that she worked for Stars and…

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden ruled that the journalists are unlikely to successfully prove that the Pentagon violated their First Amendment free speech rights.