Thanks for reaching out on Meta to have this clarified. I see two main topics here, first the reposting of a "on hold" question, second the "on hold" of the first question itself.
Regarding the reposting:
If you don't agree with the hold of a question, it's preferable to edit the question and address the "on hold" reasons directly. This ensures that any comments added to the question remain visible to all reviewers so everybody has the full picture. This also means that your edits actually need to be substantial and address the issues. From looking at the history of the first question I don't see any edit at all, so it rather looks like you reposted directly. That repost was correctly closed as a duplicate again.
Regarding the duplicate:
Generally speaking we tend to close as duplicate if a question can be answered by an already existing answer. Said answer doesn't need to be accepted, it doesn't even need to have upvotes, but it should provide a reasonable explanation to your question as well. In your case the relevant part most probably is
As of Catalina (10.15.5) Apple has implemented a feature called Battery Health Management that will stop charging and allow it to discharge to a predetermined charge (about 80%) before recharging again. This happens even while the charger is plugged in and working.
This may or may not be applicable in your case, we just don't have enough information to decide. But right now it provides a valid answer for your question ("What would cause this? Ideas? Does anyone else have a MBP that decreases the battery charge while plugged?"). It also could be caused by the OEM adapter, or the battery could be faulty, but right now we don't have enough information. And while we can't expect users to be electrician or subject matter experts in whatever they are asking, we do expect them to do basic analysis and triage to clarify issues.
Now if you can show that the charge drops significantly below 80% while being plugged in (and edit that into the question), and that it also occurs with the Apple adapter, this would be a reason for reopening it as the answer obviously doesn't fit any more.
To give specific answers to your specific questions:
my 1st question was marked as having private feedback - where is it? I can’t find it.
The only private feedback in this case is "A community member has associated this post with a similar question." in the blue box on top of your question. I agree that in case of dupes this isn't all that helpful, for other "on hold" reasons there usually are more details. But as you did, comments can always be used to clarify holds.
I was told I could edit the question and it would be submitted for reopening. I did, but got no response.
According to the change history you didn't (or you tried to but the system didn't store your edit). In general when on hold questions get edited they get placed into a review queue for reopenings. It may take several hours or even a day to get reviewed.
I was told I could submit the question again. I did. Then it was flagged as a duplicate. So, why tell me to submit it and change then flag and close it again?
Didn't see a recommendation to resubmit, only to edit. If I have missed this somehow, please explain.
