By MAKIYA SEMINERA and GARY D. ROBERTSON, Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Democrats rallying Tuesday against a new U.S. House map proposed by North Carolina Republicans seeking another GOP seat at President Donald Trump’s behest acknowledged they’ll likely be unable to halt the redraw for now. But they vowed to defeat the plan in the long run.

The new map offered by Republican legislative leaders seeks to stop the reelection of Democratic Rep. Don Davis, one of North Carolina’s three Black representatives, by redrawing two of the state’s 14 congressional districts. Statewide election data suggests the proposal would result in Republicans winning 11 of those seats, up from the current 10.

The proposal attempts to satisfy Trump’s call for states led by Republicans to conduct mid-decade redistricting to gain more seats and retain his party’s grip on Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. Democrats need to gain just three more seats to seize control of the House, and the president’s party historically has lost seats in midterm elections.

With Republicans in the majority in both General Assembly chambers and state law preventing Democratic Gov. Josh Stein from using his veto stamp against a redistricting plan, the GOP-drawn map appeared headed to enactment after final House votes as soon as Wednesday. The state Senate gave its final approval early Tuesday on a party-line vote. A House redistricting committee debated the plan later Tuesday.

Related Articles

Trump administration pledges to speed some student loan forgiveness after lawsuit

Ex-Amazon driver sues civil rights agency for dropping her case following Trump’s executive order

Trump’s nominee to lead a watchdog agency hits trouble over MLK and ‘Nazi streak’ text messages

How much more difficult is the new US citizenship test? What you need to know

ICE is jailing, deporting victims of human trafficking, domestic abuse, suit says

Still, about 300 protesters, Democratic Party officials and lawmakers gathering outside the old state Capitol pledged repeatedly Tuesday that redrawing the congressional map would have negative consequences for the GOP at the ballot box in 2026 and beyond. Litigation to challenge the enactment on the map also is likely on allegations of unlawful racial gerrymandering.

“We know we may not have the ability to stop the Republicans in Raleigh right now … but we are here to show that people across this state and across this nation are watching them,” North Carolina Democratic Party chair Anderson Clayton said to cheers.

The gathering served Democrats to censure state Republicans they accuse of agreeing to kneel to Trump through a corrupt redrawing of district lines to target Davis.

State GOP leaders defended their action, saying Trump has won the state’s electoral votes all three times that he’s run for president — albeit narrowly — and thus merits more potential support in Congress.

The national redistricting battle began over the summer when Trump urged Republican-led Texas to reshape its U.S. House districts. After Texas lawmakers acted, California Democrats reciprocated by passing their own plan, which still needs voter approval in November.

Republicans argue that other Democratic-leaning states had already given themselves a disproportionate number of seats well before this national redistricting fight started.

“It is incumbent upon us to react to this environment, to respond to this environment, and not let these tactics that have happened in blue states dominate the control of Congress,” state Sen. Ralph Hise, the map’s chief author, said during Tuesday’s Senate debate.

By CORA LEWIS, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration has agreed to resume student loan forgiveness for an estimated 2.5 million borrowers who are enrolled in certain federal repayment plans following a lawsuit from the American Federation of Teachers.

Under the agreement reached Friday between the teachers union and the administration, the Education Department will process loan forgiveness for those eligible in certain repayment plans that offer lower monthly payments based on a borrower’s earnings. The government had stopped providing forgiveness under those plans based on its interpretation of a different court decision.

The agreement will also protect borrowers from being hit with high tax bills on debt due to be forgiven this year.

“We took on the Trump administration when it refused to follow the law and denied borrowers the relief they were owed,” AFT President Randi Weingarten said in a statement. “Our agreement means that those borrowers stuck in limbo can either get immediate relief or finally see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

The Education Department said the Trump administration is reviewing forgiveness programs to identify ones that were not affected by court rulings that blocked much of the Biden administration’s efforts to cancel student debt.

“The Administration looks forward to continuing its work to simplify the student loan repayment process through implementation of the President’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the department said in a statement.

Related Articles

Democrats look to long term as North Carolina GOP redistricting plan seeks another seat for Trump

Ex-Amazon driver sues civil rights agency for dropping her case following Trump’s executive order

Trump’s nominee to lead a watchdog agency hits trouble over MLK and ‘Nazi streak’ text messages

How much more difficult is the new US citizenship test? What you need to know

ICE is jailing, deporting victims of human trafficking, domestic abuse, suit says

Several forgiveness programs are included

According to the deal, the Trump administration must cancel student debt for eligible borrowers enrolled in the following plans: income-driven repayment (IDR) plans, income-contingent repayment plans, Pay As You Earn (PAYE), and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) plans.

If borrowers have made payments beyond what was needed for forgiveness, those payments will be reimbursed. The Education Department must also continue to process IDR and PSLF “buyback” applications. Balances forgiven before Dec. 31 will not be treated as taxable income, as they will in 2026 due to a recent change in tax law.

The administration must also file progress reports every six months with the court to show the pace of application processing and loan forgiveness, according to the AFT.

How many borrowers are waiting for forgiveness?

An estimated 2.5 million borrowers in IDR plans will be affected by the agreement, and another 70,000 are waiting for forgiveness through the PSLF program.

Even with the agreement in place, mass layoffs at the Education Department could factor into processing times for forgiveness, said Megan Walter, senior policy analyst at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

If borrowers continue to make payments while their application is pending forgiveness, that will be refunded to them if they are successful, Walter said. “But keep really good records,” she said.

What are the PSLF and buyback forgiveness programs?

Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which has been in place since 2007, forgives federal student loans for borrowers who have worked at non-profit organizations or in public service after 120 payments, or 10 years. The Biden administration also created an option for borrowers to “buy back” months of payments they missed during forbearance or deferment in 2023, to allow more people to qualify for that forgiveness.

To determine if you qualify for a buy-back under the PSLF program, consult this page at the Education Department.

The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

By CALEIGH WELLS, Associated Press

Wasted food is a financial and environmental bummer.

It costs U.S. consumers $728 every year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, and emits the annual equivalent planet-warming greenhouse gases of 42 coal-fired power plants.

Carleigh Bodrug, a cookbook author who emphasizes cooking with plants and low-waste recipes, said she was surprised to learn that homes, rather than restaurants and grocery stores, account for the largest share of food that goes in the garbage — about 35% in 2023, according to ReFed, a nonprofit that seeks to reduce food waste.

“And it’s just because we’re so busy, we’re not utilizing the food that we actually buy,” she said.

The environmental impact is compounded because the food goes in the trash only after a long journey in which it’s grown, treated, packed, shipped, prepared and stored.

The good news is that cutting waste is good both for the planet and for every household’s bottom line. We’ve collected the expert wisdom on how to do it — from smarter shopping to creative recipes.

Start before you go to the store

Bodrug wasn’t always keen on reducing food waste. She recalls going to the grocery store each week, buying a bag of oats and then discovering when she got home that she already had three half-eaten bags in the pantry. When she learned about the “huge issue” of the waste nationally, she said, she wanted to do something about it.

Her first solution: Make a list. Write down the plan for the week, then check the fridge and the pantry to see what’s already there before heading to the store. The list prevents duplicates — and it can also cut down on impulse buys.

“The worst thing any of us can do — and I know everybody’s been there — is heading to the grocery store when you’re hungry and you’re just like, ‘Oh my gosh, I need everything.’ If you head to the grocery store with a list, you’re buying items with intention,” she said.

A list doesn’t solve everything. For example, don’t buy a bag of seven lemons if you only need one and will have no plan for the rest, said Adam Kaye, co-founder and chief culinary officer at Spare Food Co., a company that rescues surplus or unsold produce from farms and turns it into products sold to chefs and companies.

Kaye also said people can also choose to buy foods using ingredients that would otherwise be wasted. That could be vegetable broth made from surplus produce, or a trail mix that uses cacao fruit — which is often thrown away when cocoa powder is harvested.

Store that food properly

If your food lasts longer in the fridge, it’s got a better shot at getting eaten.

Bodrug said leafy greens stored with a paper towel or cloth that absorbs moisture will stay dry and wilt less quickly. Herbs and things with stems can be set in a jar of water, like a bouquet, to stay fresh longer.

Kaye’s solution is to use the freezer liberally — and then commit to emptying it.

“At least one night a week we have a clean-out-the-fridge-and-freezer meal night where it might end up being two or three different dishes are being prepared,” he said. “But, you know, let’s do it.”

If you think that’s waste, think again

Kaye said people likely throw away even more food than gets counted. That’s because things like the stalks, stems and ribs of a lot of produce “are perfectly edible,” he said.

When he’s cooking with parsley and cilantro, he chops up the stems and throws them in, too. Same for carrot greens in pesto, radish tops in salad, and broccoli stalks in stir fry.

Bodrug chops up her kale stems like green onions and doesn’t peel her carrots and potatoes. Her onion skins, garlic skins, carrot and celery nubs and other scraps go into a bag in her freezer to make vegetable stock. “When it’s full in the freezer, you can just dump it into a pot, add a bunch of water, add a couple of spices like turmeric and garlic and salt, and you’ve got a beautiful stock made. And then you can just compost those scraps,” she said.

Recipes that make for less waste — or none at all

Kaye has four go-to dishes when he’s trying to use up food in his fridge before it goes bad: frittata, stir fry, smoothie and pesto.

Pesto doesn’t have to be made from basil, he said — after all, it comes from the Italian word meaning to crush or pound.

Related Articles

One of the world’s rarest whales that makes the Atlantic its home grows in population

The West’s power grid could be stitched together — if red and blue states buy in

US blocks a global fee on shipping emissions as international meeting ends without new regulations

The world is heading to add 57 superhot days a year, but study indicates it could have been worse

Judge dismisses young climate activists’ lawsuit challenging Trump on fossil fuels

“I’ve yet to find something green that I can’t make a pesto out of,” he said. “Pesto can be arugula, pesto can be kale, pesto can be peas, pesto can be a combination of any of those things.”

Blenders are also great for lumpy fruit and wilting greens, Kaye said, because those can get blended up into smoothies.

He said frittata is a great savory catch-all because all it takes is food scraps and eggs.

“I’ve put leftover spaghetti in a frittata. I mean, it’s delicious,” he said. “Frittatas are just incredible for that one or two scallions or a little end piece of salami that you have, or those little cheese nubbins that are going to go south.”

Vegetable trimmings that often get discarded, like the ribs and stems of cauliflower leaves and broccoli stalks, as well as leftover meats, all work well in fried rice, he said.

Finally, eat at home more

Of course, lives get busy, and sometimes the bag of spinach bought with good intentions wilts in the back of the fridge.

Chef Dan Barber, who experimented with serving food that would have otherwise been thrown away at a pop-up restaurant called WastED, said wasting less food requires getting excited about cooking.

“Not reheating, not ordering out for someone else to cook for you, but actually engaging with a stove and a knife,” said Barber, who also co-owns a pair of restaurants called Family Meal at Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York. “To actually do some cooking and work in the kitchen that transforms something that is un-coveted or at first glance not delicious into something that sings. And that takes a little imagination and effort.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

By ALEXANDRA OLSON and CLAIRE SAVAGE, Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A former Amazon delivery driver has filed a lawsuit accusing a federal civil right agency of abruptly and unlawfully abandoning her sex discrimination case and others like it following an executive order from President Donald Trump.

The lawsuit filed by the former Colorado driver demands that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission resume investigating her claims that Amazon discriminates against female drivers by failing to provide adequate bathroom breaks.

The lawsuit is the latest example of workers and others scrambling to find recourse as federal agencies abandon their cases in response to Trump’s shake-up of the country’s civil rights enforcement infrastructure.

The EEOC, which enforces civil rights laws in the workplace, decided last month to discharge any complaints based on “disparate impact liability,” which holds that policies that are neutral on their face can be discriminatory if they impose unnecessary barriers that disadvantage different demographic groups.

Related Articles

Trump administration pledges to speed some student loan forgiveness after lawsuit

‘Massive legal siege’ against social media companies looms

One of the world’s rarest whales that makes the Atlantic its home grows in population

Man pardoned after storming Capitol is charged with threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries

GM boosts full-year outlook as it foresees a smaller impact from tariffs

The EEOC’s decision came in response to an executive order in April directing federal agencies to deprioritize the use of disparate impact liability. The Trump administration argues that disparate impact assumes any racial or gender imbalance in workplaces is the result of discrimination and leads to practices that undermine meritocracy.

The former driver, Leah Cross, filed a motion Tuesday asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to stay the EEOC’s new rule prohibiting investigations and enjoin the agency from enforcing it.

The EEOC has already dropped its sole lawsuit arising from a disparate impact liability charge, a case alleging that the Sheetz convenience store chain’s background check practices discriminated against Black, Native American and multiracial job applicants.

Separately, the agency has dropped lawsuits on behalf of transgender workers and subjected new complaints to a higher level of scrutiny, following Trump’s executive order declaring that the government would only recognize two unchangeable sexes.

It’s unclear how many worker complaints involving disparate impact liability or LGBTQ+ workers have been sidelined by the EEOC. In her lawsuit, Cross demanded that the EEOC, which handled more than 88,000 discrimination charges in 2024, give the court a list of the disparate impact liability charges it has shut down.

The EEOC referred questions about the lawsuit to the Department of Justice, which declined to comment.

Cross, who worked as a driver from August to November 2022, filed her EEOC charge two years ago, arguing that the company’s delivery schedules make it nearly impossible for drivers to find time to use bathrooms. An EEOC investigator told her lawyers last month it was closing her case because of the disparate impact rule, according to the lawsuit.

Amazon declined to comment on Cross’ case but referred The AP to its policies around its drivers, who deliver packages in Amazon-branded vehicles but work indirectly for the company through third-party companies called Delivery Service Partners. Amazon says its technology builds routes that ensure time for two 15-minute rest breaks and a 30-minute meal break. The company also said its Amazon Delivery app provides a list for drivers to see nearby restroom facilities and gas stations.

But in an interview with The AP, Cross said it was so hard for to her stop for breaks that she had to pack a Shewee — a portable urination device for women — as well as a change of pants “in case I ended up accidentally urinating on myself.”

Cross’ lawsuit against the EEOC argues that the agency is legally obligated to investigate all charges based on disparate impact liability, which Congress codified in the 1991 Civil Rights Act.

The EEOC “isn’t allowed to throw away an entire category of charges without looking into their facts just because the president doesn’t like the type of discrimination those charges are based on,” said Karla Gilbride, an attorney at Public Citizen Litigation Group, one of the organizations that filed the lawsuit.

Gilbride was the EEOC’s general counsel until she was fired in January along with two Democratic commissioners in a purge that cleared the way for the Trump administration to root out diversity and inclusion programs, roll back protections for transgender workers and elevate religious rights.

The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.