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17%
A new Pew Research poll finds just 17% of Americans now say they trust the federal government to do what is right “just about always” (2%) or “most of the time” (15%). Frustration has long been Americans’ dominant emotion toward the federal government and 49% say they feel frustrated. Another 26% say they are angry, and 23% say they are basically content.
18%
In the 2022 General Social Survey, just 18% of Americans said they have a great deal of confidence in the court, down from 26% in 2021, and 36% said they had hardly any, up from 21%. Another 46% said they have “only some” confidence in the most recent survey.
36%
A new NBC News poll finds 36% of American voters say they trust their U.S. congressman or congresswoman. And just 35% say they trust their president — down significantly from 49% in 2010.
45% to 32%
“Voters have greater faith in former FBI Director James Comey to tell the truth than in President Donald Trump, who has disputed the veracity of Comey’s sworn testimony before a Senate committee last week. A new Politico/Morning Consult poll conducted in the days following Comey’s appearance before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 45% of voters said they trust Comey more to tell the truth, compared to 32% for Trump. Twenty-three percent have no opinion.”
20%
A new Pew Research poll finds that the overall level of trust in government remains near historic lows; just 20% say they trust the government to do what’s right always or most of the time. Far more say they trust the government only some of the time (68%); 11% volunteer that they never trust the government to do what’s right.
But if we learned one thing after the Bork judicial fight in the 1980s, it’s that political parties copycat each other. And if Republicans are trying to stop Democratic laws from being implemented or preventing executive-branch appointees from being confirmed, then you can bet that Democrats will return the favor the next time there’s a GOP president. This is a slippery slope fraught with unintended consequences. In fact, we already saw Democrats in the minority on the state level trying to thwart laws that were being passed and signed into law by Republican governors and Republican-controlled legislatures. This “any means necessary” style of politicizing legislating and governing is only helping to add to the public’s distrust and cynicism toward government — on all levels.
— NBC’s First Read.
