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Why did Virginia's Supreme Court reject the state's new congressional map? 04:01

Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a bid by Virginia Democrats to revive its new voter-approved congressional map that was drawn to advantage the party for the upcoming midterm elections.

In an unsigned one-sentence order, the Supreme Court left intact a ruling from Virginia's highest court thatinvalidated an amendmentto the state constitution authorizing adoption of the new House district lines. No dissents were noted.

Virginia Democrats hadmounted a last-ditch effortto restore the new voting boundaries earlier this week, but it was considered a longshot, since the Supreme Court typically does not review interpretations of state law by a state's highest court.

Democrats have been working to counter Republican-led redistricting efforts in several states to bolster the GOP's chances of holding onto the House majority in November.

The mid-decade redistricting push began last year after Texas, at President Trump's urging, adopted a congressional map that could give Republicans five additional House seats. In response, California officials drew — and voters approved — new House boundaries that aimed to net Democrats five new seats, offsetting Republicans' potential gains in Texas. The Supreme Court hasallowedboth of those maps to beusedin the midterm elections.

State lawmakers in North Carolina, Missouri and Florida have alsoreconfiguredtheir House voting lines to give Republicans more of an advantage.

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In Virginia, Democratic legislative leaders began their effort to redraw the state's congressional map in October, when the General Assembly first passed a proposed constitutional amendment allowing it to change Virginia's House districts in the middle of the decade. The measure was approved by state lawmakers a second time in January.

The issue went before Virginia voters in April, whoapproved the proposaland cleared the way for the new map.

But days later, the Supreme Court of Virginia blocked the redistricting plan. In a 4-3 decision, the court found that state lawmakers failed to follow the proper process for putting the proposal before voters, in violation of the Virginia Constitution.

State Democratic leaderssought emergency relieffrom the U.S. Supreme Court soon after and argued that the state court's decision was "deeply mistaken" on issues of federal law.

"By forcing the Commonwealth to conduct its congressional elections using districts different from those adopted by the General Assembly pursuant to a constitutional amendment the people just ratified, the Supreme Court of Virginia has deprived voters, candidates, and the Commonwealth of their right to the lawfully enacted congressional districts," they wrote in their request.

Virginia Republicans urged the high court not to grant Democrats' request, arguing that they "have no case on the merits" and that the Supreme Court of Virginia's decision hinged on state law, not federal law.

The request from Virginia Democrats was just the latest attempt to get the Supreme Court to intervene in state redistricting fights. While states had sought to change their maps for partisan gain, Republicans in some Southern states are also scrambling to redraw their House district boundaries after the Supreme Courtweakened a key provision of the Voting Rights Actin a landmark decision last month.

Since then, officials in Louisiana,Alabamaand Tennessee havesaid they'll pursue new mapsahead of their primary elections.

By Ahmed Aboulenein

WASHINGTON, May 15 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration ‌on Friday moved to ‌strip U.S. Department of Health and ​Human Services workers of civil service job protections, according to an email reviewed by Reuters.

HHS employees ‌at several ⁠agencies received the email, which said members of ⁠their teams would be affected by the reclassification, known as ​Schedule P/C ​and formerly ​as Schedule F.

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At ‌HHS the reclassification will initially apply to employees "on the order of hundreds, not thousands," the email said, with additional tranches ‌to follow.

An HHS ​official confirmed the ​email's authenticity ​and said it "reflects the ‌finalization of previously announced ​RIFs," ​referring to reductions in force or mass layoffs. The official ​said ‌no new RIFs were planned.

(Reporting ​by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing ​by David Gregorio)

The Spaghetti Warehousein downtown Akron, where pasta, pizzas, sandwiches and more are served in nostalgia-filled surroundings inside a former B.F. Goodrich building, is set to close May 17.

The restaurant posted on social media that this is "a goodbye that feels bittersweet, but also a celebration of everything we’ve shared."

Michael Kim, president of Spaghetti Warehouse parent company The One Esca Group, said the main factor in his decision to close the restaurant is declining traffic coming into downtown Akron. .

Kim said the restaurant at 510 S. Main St. – known in its Goodrich days as Building 33 – was taking in $2 million in annual sales prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Last year we didn't even hit a mill," he said. "This year, it hasn't started that well, either. Some of it admittedly has to do with the weather, we've had a brutal winter. But the traffic has gone down so dramatically. The number of University of Akron students is starting to deplete. It's a combination, a lack of events driving people to downtown, fewer students at UA. The decrease in our sales has been quite dramatic. We probably lost half of our clientele."

GPD Group plans to move into Spaghetti Warehouse building

The Spaghetti Warehouse's lease on the buildingis set to expire in 2027. Neighboring GPD Group, an architecture and engineering firm,announced this past Decemberthat it had plans to use the structure for its own operations.

Representatives from GPD Group could not be reached for comment on whether the closure of Spaghetti Warehouse would accelerate its plans. GPD Group has more than 900 employees across 14 offices.

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Final week will include lunch, dinner through last day

Kim said he wanted to give customers one final week to come and have a meal at the restaurant, which has been opened in Akron in 1993. The restaurant will offer a reduced menu, serving lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The restaurant will operate in a "fast casual model," where customers will order at the register, and then sit anywhere they wish in the restaurant and have their food brought out.

Kim said the timetable is designed to provide employees a chance to seek work elsewhere before the restaurant closes.

Kim said it is possible that Spaghetti Warehouse will find another location in the region despite unsuccessful searching so far.

"For about a year, year and a half, when we heard about GPD taking over the building, we started looking around," Kim said. "But we just could not find something we loved. But we are always open to listening."

There are two other Spaghetti Warehouse locations in Ohio, in Toledo and Dayton.

Reporter April Helms can be reached at ahelms@thebeaconjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal:Spaghetti Warehouse closing in Akron, blames decline in customers

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary intends to resign on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

His departure was in the works after he clashed publicly with lawmakers, major pharmaceutical companies and President Donald Trump himself. He was scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

FDA vaccine chief Dr. Vinay Prasad to leave agency next month

Makary, who is a surgeon by training, gained notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing against masks for children and vaccine mandates, and criticizing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for citing Israeli data in recommending boosters rather than conducting its own research.

Since taking office in March 2025, the commissioner has focused his efforts on reshaping vaccine policy in the U.S. and transforming American diets.

Makary appeared in a video on X alongside Kennedy when the secretary announced in May 2025 theremoval of the COVID-19 vaccinefrom the CDC's immunization schedule for "healthy children and pregnant women."

"There's no evidence healthy kids need it today and most countries have stopped recommending it for children," Makary said at the time.

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Last year, Makary appeared at a news conference announcing the HHS and FDA would be implementing a series of measures tophase out eight artificial food dyesand colorings from America's food supply by the end of 2026.

Makary said at the time that the agencies are looking to revoke authorization for two synthetic food colorings and to work with the food industry to eliminate six remaining synthetic dyes used in cereal, ice cream, snacks, yogurts and more -- claiming American children "have been living in a toxic soup of synthetic chemicals."

Makary also supported Kennedy'supdated federal dietary guidelinesearlier this year. The guidelines recommended that Americans limit highly processed foods and refined carbohydrates but also advocated for consuming red meat and full-fat dairy, a reversal of past nutrition guidance.

FDA commissioner explains new labeling guidelines for dyes on food packages

"For decades, we've been fed a corrupt food pyramid that has had a myopic focus on demonizing natural healthy saturated fats, telling you not to eat eggs and steak and ignoring a giant blind spot: refined carbohydrates, refined sugars, ultra-processed foods," Makary said. "In this new guidance, we are telling young people, kids, schools, you don't need to tiptoe around fat and dairy. ... You don't need to push low-fat milk to kids."

In early May, Trump criticized Makary for not moving quickly enough to ​approve flavored vape and nicotine products, according to a report fromThe Wall Street Journal.

Trump's advisers informed him that Makary was delaying the president's effort to "save" vaping," a pledge Trump made on social media during his presidential campaign, according to the Journal.

Florida attorney general James Uthmeier believes the NFL did not go far enough after the league made subtle changes to the language in the Rooney Rule. Uthmeier — who in March demanded theleague suspend the Rooney Rule over “discrimination” concerns— issued an investigative subpoena to the league Wednesday claiming the rule still violates Florida law.

Uthmeier announced the subpoena, and released the full letter he sent to the NFL, in a social-media post Wednesday.

In the letter, Uthmeier said he appreciated how quickly the NFL altered the language of the Rooney Rule, but that the league’s changes invite more questions over the rule and its purpose.

The Rooney Rule, which was adopted by the league in 2023, requires teams to “interview at least one or more diverse candidates before making a new hire.” The policy now applies to a number of roles around the league, including head-coaching jobs, general manager positions and other “football executive jobs,” per the league’s website. Teams are now required to interviewtwo minority candidatesfor those roles.

In his initial statement to the NFL, Uthmeier claimed the Rooney Rule violated Florida law by “requiring race-based considerations in hiring.” He also threatened “enforcement actions against the league for race-based discrimination.”

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In response, the NFL quietly altered some of the language in the rule. One of those changes involved making it clear that the team has the final say in which candidate gets hired. Another removed the phrase “aims to increase the number of minorities hired” to read “expands the pool of candidates required.”

In his letter Wednesday, Uthmeier called out that edited phrase, saying making hiring decisions based on race violates Florida law.

Uthmeier also called out three other NFL policies which seek to hire, train or mentor women or minority candidates. Uthmeier claimed those policies also violated Florida law, which prohibits employers from considering race or sex when making hiring decisions.

At the end of his letter, Uthmeier circled back to the NFL’s editing of the Rooney Rule. Uthmeier claimed that by editing those passages, the NFL engaged in “deceptive and unfair business practices.” By claiming it wanted to promote diversity hiring but then removing that language from the Rooney Rule when challenged, the NFL deceived consumers, per Uthmeier’s letter.

It’s unclear if or how the NFL respond to Uthmeier’s subpoena. When NFL commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about the issue at the league meetings in late March, he said there wereno plans to drop the rule, per the Associated Press.

"The Rooney Rule has been around a long time," Goodell said at the time. "We've evolved it, changed it. We'll continue to do that."