Republicans blamed more for shutdown than Democrats, so far
Our Strength In Numbers/Verasight poll for September found voters pre-emptively assigning more blame to Republican politicians than Democrats for a potential government shutdown. Additionally, a majority of voters said Democrats should fight for health care funding, including expiring ACA subsidies and cuts to Medicaid in Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” passed in July.
Does that result still hold up? Here’s a look at all the polls about the government shutdown published this week. There is a clear winner:
Washington Post: 47% blame Republicans + Trump, 30% Democrats
A New York Times/Siena College poll, conducted before the shutdown, found 26% of voters said they’d blame Republicans for one, 19% said Democrats, and 33% assigned blame to both parties equally.
A PBS/NPR/Marist College poll puts this split at 38% Republicans, 27% Democrats, 31% both.
A YouGov/The Economist poll, also fielded before the shutdown, also has the Republicans getting more blame for the shutdown — with 33% of adults blaming Republicans more, 27% blaming Democrats more, and 31% who say both parties deserve equal blame.
A memo from Blueprint Research found independents would split 49% to 26% in putting blame on Republicans.