
This historic Black Belt congressional district hasn't elected a Republican since 1883, but it's just been redistricted
CBSN
Princeville, North Carolina — On a single-lane road in Eastern North Carolina, surrounded by farmland, the congregation at Mark Chapel Baptist Church listens to a sermon on faith — and the importance of their vote as part of the "Black Belt," a stretch of majority-Black congressional districts in the South.
The 1st Congressional District hasn't elected a Republican since 1883, and African Americans have represented the district since 1992, but this year, that could change.
Residents here find themselves in a new political reality. The key swing state has 16 electoral votes at stake, and though a Democratic presidential candidate hasn't won the state since 2008, the margins for Republicans have diminished in the past two elections. Donald Trump won in 2016 by 3.6 points and in 2020, just eked out a win over Joe Biden by 1.3 points. The First District has the state's only competitive congressional race after North Carolina's redistricting.

Washington — A federal judge on Friday declined to block the Trump administration from putting thousands of employees with U.S. Agency for International Development on administrative leave and recalling others from overseas, clearing the way for the president to resume his efforts to overhaul the agency as part of his plans to slash the size of the federal government.

Michael Sayih and Max Fink share a common goal: to make history together. The South Florida natives are regular racing partners who have competed in 5K, Iron Man and marathon events around the world. Their current goal is to become one of the first Duo Teams — one athlete pushing the other in a wheelchair — to complete six Abbott World Marathon Majors together.

Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, has continued to slash through federal agencies, firing workers and canceling contracts. But as it tallies its savings online, there are continuing indications that the group, which President Trump has referred to as Musk's team of "super geniuses," is overstating its achievements.