The U.S. Postal Service system of handling and delivering mail ballots often leads to rejected or late ballots, election security advocates contend.   The Election Integrity Network issued two recent reports on the handling of mail ballots by postal employees, and the use of regional mail processing centers across state lines. The reports claim that current practices could either result in delayed ballots or confusion over postmarks during an election.  In the 2022 election, 549,824 mail ballots were rejected, about 1.5% of all absentee/mail-in ballots, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission found. Common reasons for rejected ballots include non-matching signatures and missed deadlines. “From the outside, those are just ‘undeliverable’ or ‘missing’ ballots in a large system,” an Election Integrity Network report released Monday says. “For each voter, it is the loss of the one voice they have in their own government.”  For its part, the U.S. Postal Service counters that local election officials are responsible for matters such as enforcing deadlines, using barcodes, identifying eligible voters, and ensuring correct addresses for ballots.  Further, the USPS is held accountable by the Postal Regulatory Commission, as well as through congressional oversight, said USPS spokeswoman Cathy Purcell. “The report’s statements concerning the Postal Service reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the Postal Service’s role, which is to process, transport, and deliver mail, including Election Mail. The Postal Service plays no role in the administration of elections,” Purcell told The Daily Signal. Part of the problem, noted the Election Integrity Network’s more lengthy report from last week, is the U.S. Postal Service lumps election mail in with all mail, shipped to regional shipping centers that are sometimes out of state where the postmarks are then issued.   Thus, even if a voter mails their ballot on the day of the deadline, it might travel out of state to a distribution center and be postmarked the next day, the report contends. “The USPS should immediately stop delaying election mail by using the new system, and start handling all of it locally without sending it to the regional processing centers,” the report says.   The report contends the USPS is effectively America’s largest “precinct” because it has the largest number of individuals handling election mail with little or no citizen oversight.  “There are so many problems with the U.S. Postal Service. I don’t think we should have universal mail-in voting with so many vulnerabilities,” Ned Jones, executive director of the Election Integrity Network, told The Daily Signal. “It often leaves the state and comes back. In the processing is where it gets the postmark.”  The report from last week was based on data gathered by the EIN’s Vote-By-Mail/USPS National Working Group, with members from more than 20 states, Jones said.   Purcell said that “state boundaries have nothing to do with the efficient movement of mail.” She said a Post Office clerk can, when close to an election date, expedite delivery of a ballot to an election office, “without sending the ballot to the processing plant for cancellation and sorting.”    “We employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all Election Mail, including ballots,” she said. The network’s report also says that unreliable barcode tracking has frequently missed scans for ballots. “The USPS tracking system isn’t very good. It’s all done by machine and many scans are missed,” the report states. “Unbelievably, the last scan before delivery is not as the letter carrier delivers the mail, to the voter or back to the election office, but in the processing center before the letter carrier gets it.” Purcell stressed the USPS educates voters to mail ballots in a timely manner well before deadlines.   “The long-standing Postal Service guidance on mailing ballots has been to mail your ballot before Election Day and at least one week before the deadline by which it must be received by your election office,” Purcell said. “The postmark date on a mail item doesn’t always match the day you mailed an item.” She said the Postal Service strongly recommends the use of barcodes, but cannot mandate local election offices use them. She further noted, “It is the responsibility of the election office to maintain accurate names and addresses if it chooses to employ vote-by-mail.”  The information comes as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a major case about whether to continue counting mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day.   The Election Integrity Network report made several recommendations.   “The USPS should develop a system that accurately maintains a ‘chain of custody’ for all election mail, and reconcile ballots delivered, plus undeliverable ballots returned to the election office, for every election jurisdiction,” the report says.   It also says the Postal Service “should have a system that prevents election mail from being delivered to a voter who is no longer at their registration address.”  In December 2024, after that year’s election, the Postal Service noted it handled almost 100 million ballots, and 99.8% were delivered within a week. The USPS said the average delivery time from a voter to election officials was only a day.   However, in April 2025, the USPS Office of Inspector General found about 40 million ballots lacked tracking data, and found “confusion in the field” about temporary mail flow changes for the election season.  The post Largest ‘Precinct’: Why Some Mail Ballots Travel Across State Lines Before Counting Begins appeared first on The Daily Signal.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries fired another volley in the nationwide congressional redistricting battle Wednesday with an attempt to persuade Maryland lawmakers to draw out the state’s sole Republican member of Congress. “I had a wonderful meeting with Gov. Wes Moore, with Speaker [Joseline] Peña-Melnyk, and with the Democrats in the Maryland House of Delegates to thank them for their leadership and for their courage in advancing a competitive congressional map,” Jeffries, D-N.Y., said at a Wednesday press conference after having met with Democrats in the state’s capital of Annapolis. Maryland Democrats have had tough luck in the past in their attempts to draw Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., from office. In 2021, the Maryland General Assembly passed a redistricting bill that would likely have removed Harris from Congress. It was ultimately challenged by Republicans, going to the Supreme Court of Maryland, which ruled the map was overly partisan and violated the state’s constitution. Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson has opposed another attempt redistricting, arguing it could backfire on Democrats in court and lacks the necessary votes on the Senate floor. Thank you to Leader @RepJeffries for coming to Annapolis today to stand with us during this critical moment in our democracy. pic.twitter.com/qPNwtOTeqT— Governor Wes Moore (@GovWesMoore) February 18, 2026 But Jeffries said Wednesday that he was trying to convince Ferguson to allow a pro-Democrat redistricting bill passed in the House of Delegates to proceed to the state’s Senate. Moore is a supporter of redistricting. Ferguson “articulated his perspective, I articulated our perspective … that the best course of action at this moment is to allow an up-or-down vote in the Maryland state Senate so that we have an opportunity to move forward in a transparent way and see where things will land,” said Jeffries. Jeffries additionally said in a statement that “Bill Ferguson authentically believes that the votes don’t exist in the state Senate to move forward.” After the meeting, Ferguson indicated in a statement that he was still not on board with voting on redistricting in the state Senate. “It’s precisely because we want Leader Jeffries in the majority that most members in the Maryland Senate Democratic Caucus do not support moving forward with mid-cycle redistricting that will backfire in our State courts and lose Democrats in Congress,” said Ferguson. REP. ANDY HARRIS (R): Wes Moore is pushing redistricting yet again. He's targeting my seat to appease liberal socialists as he eyes a presidential run.They tried this 4 years ago and lost miserably in court. If they force it, we'll go to court and fight for a second Republican… pic.twitter.com/VPqlHgqRFT— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) January 7, 2026 Harris has been dismissive when asked publicly about redistricting. “They tried this four years ago. They lost in court miserably,” he said in January. “We think they’ll lose again. We think if they try, we’ll go to court and we’ll actually try to get a second seat in Maryland. The post Hakeem Jeffries Pushes for Maryland Redistricting appeared first on The Daily Signal.

President Donald Trump is set to announce Thursday how $5 billion from member countries of the Board of Peace will be spent to rebuild Gaza, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.  The board’s first meeting is Thursday in Washington, D.C. Israel, Qatar, and Turkey are among major Middle Eastern countries with representatives on the board. Humanitarian efforts in Gaza will be accompanied by an international stabilization force and local police to maintain security, Leavitt added. The conflict between Israel and Hamas raged for two years after the 2023 terrorist attack before a ceasefire was declared in Gaza in October. When asked by a reporter if the president would decide how the $5 billion is spent, Leavitt replied the board would decide. “That will be the Board of Peace, which the president is, of course the chairman of, but all of the member parties, I believe, will have votes on the funding,” she said. “Of course, there is that technocratic layer underneath the official Board of Peace with the member countries that we’ll be making decisions as well.” Leavitt was also asked about the Vatican declining an invitation for Pope Leo XIV’s membership on the Board of Peace, out of concern it would compete with the United Nations peacekeeping.  “It’s deeply unfortunate. I don’t think that peace should be partisan, or political, or controversial,” the press secretary said. “Of course, the administration wants all those who were invited to join the Board of Peace to join, because, again, the Board of Peace is overseeing the reconstruction of a territory that has been plagued with violence, with bloodshed, poverty for far too long. This president has a very bold and ambitious plan and vision to rebuild and reconstruct Gaza, which is well underway, because of the Board of Peace.” U.S. allies such as France, Sweden, and Norway also declined invidations to join the board. Trump disinvited Canada from participating.  Among the board members, Israel has been suspect of Qatar as having ties with Hamas. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff recently presented plans for attracting international investment to rebuild Gaza. The Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal establishes a temporary international stabilization force with soldiers from Arab and Muslim-majority countries to train and vet a new Palestinian police force, the Associated Press reported.  The post Trump Has More Details for $5 Billion Plan to Rebuild Gaza, White House Says appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” What are the things and people that we would make the ultimate sacrifice for? What or who resides at the center of our lives? On Feb. 18th, Catholics across the globe will attend Mass or a church service to receive burned ashes on their forehead in the sign of the cross. This symbol on their heads marks the beginning of Lent, the holiest season of the year leading to the commemoration of Jesus’ betrayal, suffering, death, and resurrection during Holy Week. The practice of receiving ashes is a spiritual practice but it has countless practical benefits for believers–and I would argue nonbelievers alike. As Catholics receive the ashes the priest says one of two things. The first option is: “Remember, you are dust and to dust you will return.” We receive distinct black marks of soot on our heads as a public reminder to ourselves and to the world. The reminder that this witness provides is three-fold. First, it reminds us that we came from nothing and that we will deteriorate into ashes. Life is fragile and life is short. Therefore, Lent serves as a launchpad for Catholics to consider what they are really living for? Am I living for things that are everlasting or is the majority of my time given to things that will pass away into dust? The things that are everlasting are the realities of faith and relationships. Money, power, and worldly acclaim will all pass away. However, love knows no limits. Parents love their children before they are even born and adults love their parents even after their deaths. Love transcends space and time. This is due to the fact that God is love. God is the perfect communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Lent proposes that we must spend more time considering how we devote our lives to the most important relationships in our lives (God, family and friends). Second, the ashes act as our first opportunity to consider how I am being called to sacrifice more for God and others in my life. The ashes on our heads were produced through the bringing of palm branches. These branches were used in the celebration of Palm Sunday the previous year. This is the commemoration of Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem the week of his death. The ashes on our heads are cause to consider our death but also cause to consider the suffering, beating, and humiliation that Jesus endured for love of you and me.  In light of his sacrifice, what can I sacrifice to grow closer to him? The word sacrifice literally means to give up something good for something greater. A universal positive reflection question for our existence is, am I living from a place of sacrificial love with my family and friends? Is there a clear purpose to my life which is bigger than myself? Have I found someone or something worth dying for? Finally, the ashes force us to think about our own brokenness and sinfulness. The concept of Catholic guilt is a common understanding in our culture. The truth of Catholic guilt is that we are all sinners. Christianity only makes sense if we admit that we are sinners in need of a savior. That left to our own devices tends to be driven by our own ego and selfishness. We are inclined to tear people apart rather than lift them up, overlook those in need rather than give them aid. Catholic theology states that it was my sin and the sin of the world that placed Jesus on that cross. That each time I sin and hurt others or reject God, I am contributing to the pain that he endured on that day. The beauty and grandeur of the Christian faith is that our God knew we would reject Him and sin, but He died for us anyway. The call of Lent is to be more honest with ourselves about our need for God. Yes, because we are sinners but also because we are not meant to go through life alone. Our God became one of us so that we would know that He is always with us drawing us closer to Himself. Even more so, we are invited to not only spend more time with God in prayer this Lent but to allow our time with Him to transform us to become like Him. The Lenten season can become a transformation when we realize that God is worth everything. That He is worth dying for, yes, but even more–He is worth living for. That is why, above everything else, the ashes truly matter. We publish a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Daily Signal. The post Why Ashes Matter appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its January 2026 Current Employment Statistics and Consumer Price Index (CPI) reports. Here’s what you need to know: Headline job growth exceeded expectations The private sector grew while government payrolls contracted Unemployment edged in a positive direction Inflation continued to cool Weekly paychecks are going farther These reports suggest stabilization within the American economy, contrary to economists on the Left and Right who have been quick to express labor and broad market pessimism. Total nonfarm payrolls blew past “expert” estimations of approximately 55,000 to 75,000—coming in hot at 130,000. Businesses continued to hire American-born workers, and such gains were driven by healthcare, social assistance, and construction sectors. While the doubling of employment expectations is a positive sign, expansion of healthcare and social service payrolls is complex. Though privately owned, these sectors are heavily subsidized by the government. Still, the most important takeaway is that meaningful progress has been made to reduce the number of federal government jobs and enhance the number of private employees. President Donald Trump inherited an economy that was expanding the public sector and shrinking the private sector. The January 2025 Employment Situation report showed 32,000 added government jobs and, after downward revisions, a loss of 48,000 private payrolls. The Trump administration’s efforts to reverse the harmful labor effects of the Biden years is finally bearing fruit. The January 2026 report illuminates total private sector employment increased by 172,000 and government employment decreased by 42,000. The data is astoundingly clear: the productive private sector is growing and the unproductive public sector is shrinking. Since government jobs add no real monetary value to the economy yet are funded by taxing or borrowing from the private sector, every dollar spent employing unnecessary government bureaucrats represents a dollar diverted from truly productive, wealth-creating private activity. Trump has made headway in contracting government payrolls by axing unnecessary federal employees and programs—which puts downward pressure on employment data. But despite this drag on the headline jobs number, nonfarm payrolls still rose significantly. And as the labor market reprivatizes by adding private payrolls and removing public drains, the productive part of the economy can grow, labor market can strengthen, and taxpayer funds can be utilized more efficiently. Progress has also been made encouraging more individuals into the labor market. The January 2026 unemployment rate stabilized at 4.3%, beating 4.4% expectations. An uptick in workforce participation and low unemployment suggests labor market resilience. In addition to employment stability, inflation signals continued cooling toward the Federal Reserve’s 2% target. Headline CPI approximated 2.4% year-over-year, down from 2.7% in December 2025. Driven by reductions in energy prices, this marks the lowest annual rate since May 2025. Core CPI approximated 2.5%, the lowest since March of 2021, reflecting that inflation is moderating. But these optimistic Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers may be an understatement, still. Truflation, a platform that provides real-time inflation data by tracking millions of prices per day, estimates real inflation below 1%. And with consumer prices cooling, Americans can enjoy a higher standard of living. In January 2026, average wages grew by 0.4% with CPI increasing only 0.2% month-over-month. As wage growth continues to outpace inflation, as it has done under Trump, affordability becomes achievable for more Americans. This is the exact opposite of what happened under the previous administration. Under President Joe Biden, what the average American could buy with his or her weekly paycheck fell by 4% due to 40-year high inflation. In just one year, Trump worked hard to push real paychecks up approximately 2%, meaning paychecks aren’t just bigger but they can buy more. With the BLS’s bullish employment and CPI reports depicting a moderating labor market and controlled inflation, the Federal Reserve is clearly behind the curve in terms of easing monetary policy. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has been “too late” at reducing interest rates, but with expected Chairman Kevin Warsh soon to be at the helm, policy priorities to reduce the Fed’s balance sheet and cut rates would encourage a Main Street boom. Now, there is still significant work ahead to reinforce the labor market, bring inflation closer to target, and make up lost ground from Bidenomics, but the data positively reflects the meaningful progress that continues to be made in both direction and magnitude for employment and prices. The post Employment Up and Inflation Down New BLS Report Shows appeared first on The Daily Signal.