WASHINGTON (AP) — As government shutdown With no end in sight, the latest AP-NORC poll finds that most Americans see this as a major problem and all major players are under fire.
Roughly 6 in 10 Americans say President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress are “extremely” or “quite” responsible for the government shutdown, while 54% say the same about Democrats in Congress, according to the poll. Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center. At least three-quarters of Americans believe each deserves at least a “moderate” amount of responsibility, highlighting that no one has successfully avoided responsibility.
The survey was conducted as follows. shutdown If you extend it to the 3rd week, it will look like this: instructor warns It could soon become the longest in history. The Democratic Party is request an extension It would qualify for tax credits that have helped millions of people buy health insurance since the coronavirus pandemic, but Republicans have refused to negotiate until Congress passes a funding bill to reopen the government.
The conflict has become a messaging battle, with each party betting that the public will condemn the other. The stakes are especially high for Democrats, now out of power and seeking a joint effort to rally for the pivotal 2026 midterm elections.
Public dissatisfaction seems to be directed toward a little more. political party in power. The poll found that about half of Americans say President Trump bears “a great deal” of responsibility for the government shutdown, the highest level of blame offered in the poll. That’s about the same percentage of people who blame Republicans in Congress, but higher than the 40% who say the same thing among Democrats.
Sophia Cole, a 38-year-old Republican mother from St. Louis, places equal blame for the government shutdown on Trump and Congress. Cole, who describes himself as a Trump supporter, said he believes the two sides “should be able to come together” to reach a compromise, but that he believes it is ultimately the Republican president’s responsibility to broker a deal.
“We depend on him to get the House and the people to vote the way he wants them to vote,” Cole said.
Democrats and independents are more likely to call the shutdown a “major problem.”
The effects of the government shutdown are beginning to be felt across the country. For the flight lateand hundreds of thousands of federal employees. furloughed or working without pay I’m starting to miss my paycheck.
The poll found that 54% of U.S. adults say the shutdown is a “big problem,” while just 11% say it’s not a problem at all. 69% of Democrats think this is a big problem, while 59% of independents and 37% of Republicans feel the same way.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) said this week that the country is “pushing into the next direction.” one of the longest shutdowns in American history. ”The last shutdown was during President Trump’s first term. record 35 days It evoked similar public opinion, and Democrats were more likely than Republicans to see it as a big problem.
White House warns of impact of government shutdown it could be worse At this time. Approximately 2 million military personnel paid on time This week, the government used federal employees as leverageAnd over the weekend, he began carrying out his threats. fire a federal employee. But on Wednesday, a federal judge in California temporarily stopped firingsaid they appeared to be politically motivated and were carried out without much thought.
“It’s only going to get worse for federal workers,” said Angie Santiago, 60, a Democrat from Miami. “If people like me are struggling, I can’t imagine what federal employees are going through.”
Santiago, whose husband is on disability while he works, said she fears the shutdown will get worse. financial difficulties All over the country. Santiago said in a phone interview that he started going to the food bank regularly about a year ago.
“I’m calling from the food line,” she said. “We’re going to see more lines like this. It’s going to get worse.”
More people support the extension of medical subsidies than oppose it.
The core of the shutdown is Impasse over federal tax credits Afforable Care Act Covers people who purchase health insurance through the Marketplace. Democrats want to extend the loan, but Republicans say they will only discuss the issue once the government reopens.
Polls show that about 4 in 10 American adults support extending the tax credit, while about 1 in 10 are completely opposed. A large majority, 42%, have no opinion, suggesting that many Americans are not paying close attention to the core conflict that led to the shutdown.
Republican Jason Beck, a self-employed insurance agent in Utah, uses the Affordable Care Act Marketplace for his insurance and supports extending the tax credit.
“I know a lot of the closures are around health insurance, but I would much rather keep it the way it is now,” Beck said of the subsidies.
Democrats say keeping health insurance prices the same is at the heart of their fight, and that prices will skyrocket if Congress doesn’t do anything. But even Beck, an ally of Democrats on subsidies, still places equal blame for the government shutdown on Democrats, Republicans and Trump.
“Trump is blaming Democrats, and Democrats are blaming Republicans,” Beck said. “We’re at an impasse because there’s no middle ground anymore.”
Neither party expects their favorability rating to increase significantly.
Both parties see the government shutdown as a prelude to the 2026 midterm elections, with Democrats aiming to flip the House. But so far, there has been no meaningful change in opinion about either party.
Roughly three in 10 American adults have a “somewhat” or “very” favorable view of the Democratic Party, according to a September AP-NORC poll. Just like last month, 4 in 10 people have a “somewhat” or “very” favorable view of the Republican Party.
Meanwhile, confidence in Congress remains extremely low. Only about 4% of Americans say they have “a great deal” of confidence in the way Congress is run, 43% have “some” confidence and about half have “a little” confidence.
But polls suggest that health care could become a useful issue for Democrats in the future. The poll found that 38% of Americans trust Democrats to do a better job on health care, while only 25% trust Republicans more. About 1 in 10 people trust both equally, and 25% trust neither.
Rob Redding, 49, an independent voter from New York state, supports extending ACA subsidies and credits Democrats with defending them.
Redding said Democrats holding the line on ACA subsidies is probably one of the bravest and bravest moves he’s ever seen from Democrats.
“And,” Redding said, “I think it’s the right decision.”
___
The AP-NORC poll of 1,289 adults was conducted Oct. 9-13 using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all adults is plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
___
Follow AP’s coverage of the federal government shutdown. https://apnews.com/hub/government-shutdown.
