Poll: Government Shutdown

This Navigator Research report covers the latest messaging guidance regarding the government shutdown.

The White House’s Priorities During the Continued Shutdown

Over three quarters of Americans oppose the U.S. spending $170 million on private jets for Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem (76 percent), including 62 percent who “strongly” oppose. Similar spending projects garner strong opposition, including the White House ballroom project (70 percent oppose, 59 percent “strongly” oppose), the U.S. passing new tax cuts for billionaires (72 percent oppose, 59 percent “strongly” oppose), and the U.S. bailing out Argentina’s economy (76 percent oppose, 57 percent “strongly” oppose).

When asked to pick the two most concerning actions, 33 percent are most concerned by the U.S. passing $4.5 trillion in new tax breaks for the wealthy, largely driven by Democrats (40 percent). 29 percent are concerned by both the bail out for Argentina and the White House ballroom project, however the Argentina bail out is most concerning to independents (38 percent) and Republicans (35 percent) indicating this could be a wedge issue among Trump and Republicans. Republicans are most opposed to the U.S. bailing out Argentina’s economy (66 percent oppose) and the spending of millions on private jets for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem (60 percent oppose).

The most bothersome aspects of recent government spending include:

• We’re spending money on those items, while millions of Americans do not receive their paychecks and some will not receive back pay, and thousands will lose their jobs permanently (35 percent)
• We’re spending money on those items, while millions of Americans will lose their health care completely and millions more will see their health care costs double (33 percent)

Messaging About Waste and the Shutdown

A message highlighting recent wasteful government spending resonates more strongly when tied to the government shutdown:

Trump and Republicans are spending money on everything except what benefits American families. In the last few weeks, they’ve announced the spending of $40 billion on a bailout of Argentina, $170 million on two private jets for Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, and $300 million to build a White House ballroom. At the same time, they are keeping the government shut down because they refuse to help Americans with rising health care costs, and instead could strip nearly 5 million of their health insurance and double the cost of health insurance for millions more.

Against the conservative argument that “Democrats have shut down the government and refuse to work together to reopen it. Democrats are unwilling to cut waste, fraud, and abuse from government spending, and instead want to continue to waste taxpayer dollars on health care for illegal aliens,” Americans agree more with progressive messages, whether the focus is health care costs or foreign spending:

• Trump and Republicans are spending billions on foreign aid and conflicts, including a $40 billion bailout of Argentina and billions more in overseas military spending. Meanwhile, Trump and Republicans are doing nothing for us at home – keeping the government shut down and pushing to strip health care from millions of Americans and raise health care costs for millions more (net +14)
• Trump and Republicans’ budget would more than double health care costs for 22 million Americans. Democrats say health care costs have already been skyrocketing, and so they are doing everything they can to stop health care costs from rising even more, at a time when tariffs are already driving up costs (net +14)

Focus on the Right or Wrong Things

After messaging, Americans move from believing Republicans in Congress are focused on the wrong things by six points (50 percent wrong things – 44 percent right things) to believing they are focused on the wrong things by 19 points (57 percent wrong things – 38 percent right things), with 61 percent of independents believing they are focused on the wrong things.