The links explain it. The words around the links just muddle things.
States collect money for UI.
After 6 months, Federal Unemployement Compensation kicks in.
For FUC, states have to abide by Federal rules. That means no cuts to benefits--otherwise states would cut benefits to make the Feds pay more. That's a no-no.
A few years ago the pot of money for state unemployment payments dried up. Instead of cutting benefits--a big no-no, you'd be "un FUC'ed"--they borrowed $2.5 billion.
Now they have to start paying it back, and that comes from the pot of money for state unemployment benefits. Their original plan was to file for permission to reduce state-paid benefits--not eliminate them--and divert money to pay back the debt. But they wanted to pay back the debt a few years earlier to get out from under the debt and that would make the payments bigger. After all, the economy was going to pick up, the early #s from 2013 said so, the CBO said so, the Fed said so, Obama said so. That's what they wrote into law and procedures. They haven't changed that.
So the state requested permission to cut state-paid benefits. Other states got permission for this. There was no intent on the part of NC to eliminate FUC benefits. But for whatever reason, NC did not get permission. NC has also not backed down on its payment plan.
One thing not even mentioned is whether they'd even have enough money to follow the older, more extended repayment plan withotu raising unemployment insurance rates on employers or employees were they to restore full state benefits. Not a minor point. "Look, they've taken an action to screw the workers" becomes fairly meaningless if "any action they took would have screwed the workers just as much" is just as true.
Note that there was some dust-up back in 2009 or 2010 over precisely this kind of thing: If X happened and a state accepted federal money, one consequence would be they'd have to raise taxes. And conventional wisdom--until late 2009--was that raising taxes during an economic downturn was a bad idea.
So NC has reduced in-state benefits. This will mean sharp reductions in Federal benefits because their benefits reduction plan, unlike others and for whatever reason, wasn't approved. State benefits are not eliminated. And as for eliminating Federal benefits, it's not like it was intended; it's the Fed's (non)decision to do so, and the state walked into it. Perhaps to force the Feds to approve the plan. Perhaps because there was no political will to take the alternate paths to avoid this. Perhaps it slipped under the radar. Hard to say from the OP's links.
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