Updated October 30, 2025 at 2:39 PM MST

NPR's lawsuit against its decades-long partner, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, is headed for trial in December, a federal judge ruled Thursday. It is another marker of the Trump administration's disruptive force throughout the media.

NPR alleges that last spring, CPB unlawfully yanked away a planned three-year contract worth $36 million in the face of intense pressure from the White House to sever ties with the radio network.

As NPR presented evidence in court hearings on Tuesday and Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Randolph Moss indicated a deep skepticism of CPB's argument that it sharply reversed course on the merits. The most plausible explanation, Moss said, was that CPB was hoping to survive.

"I am not sure I have received an

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