Americans believe the federal government is crooked, inefficient, and bureaucratic – but they are unsure if Elon Musk is the ideal guy to repair it.
According to a recent survey conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, just around three in ten Americans in the United States strongly or somewhat support President Trump’s establishment of an advisory committee on government efficiency, which Musk is leading. Approximately four out of ten people disagree, with the remainder indifferent or unsure. (The poll was held prior to Vivek Ramaswamy’s announcement that he would leave the company.)
The advisory organization, the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, aims to reveal fraudulent and inefficient expenditure throughout the federal bureaucracy, and its officials have proposed a variety of cost-cutting measures, including the elimination of entire departments. Although majority Americans think that the federal government is in trouble, many have a negative opinion of Musk and are skeptical of the Republican president’s reliance on billionaires for policy assistance.
As the plans become more clear, the survey reveals that Americans are divided on several of the changes outlined by Trump and his administration in recent months, such as cutting huge numbers of government jobs and relocating federal agencies outside of Washington. Substantial proportions are undecided, indicating that there is lots of room for opinion to change either way.
A return-to-work program for federal employees, which was one of Trump’s first executive orders on Inauguration Day, is somewhat popular.
Americans see a dysfunctional federal system but aren’t as concerned about the ‘deep state’.
As Trump begins his second term with vows to slash regulations and limit the role of government officials, the majority of Americans believe the federal government has severe issues. Approximately two-thirds of persons in the United States believe that corruption and inefficiency are “major problems” in the federal government, and nearly six in ten believe the same about red tape, such as government rules and bureaucracy.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to believe that these are big issues, but the majority of Democrats still believe that corruption and inefficiency pose important difficulties to the government.
Despite Trump’s allegations that career government employees opposed his ideas during his first term, worry about civil servants who refuse to follow the president’s agenda is less widespread. Only roughly one-third of Americans believe this is a serious issue in the government.
Many distrust Musk and mistrust billionaires’ influence generally.
Musk was a significant figure in Trump’s inaugural rituals, receiving a seat inside the Capitol Rotunda and speaking at a rally just after Trump was sworn in.
Musk, a billionaire and the world’s richest person, is seen favorably by almost one-third of Americans, a tiny decrease from December. Americans’ perceptions of Musk and Trump are somewhat similar: Approximately 8 in 10 Americans hold the same view of both men, whether good or negative. Approximately half of Americans have a negative opinion of both Musk and Trump.
Some Americans may also be concerned by Musk’s visibility. According to the study, most Americans believe it is a terrible idea for the president to seek counsel on government policy from billionaires. About 6 in 10 adults in the United States believe this would be a “very” or “somewhat” negative thing, while just about 1 in 10 say it would be very or somewhat positive, and about 3 in 10 are indifferent.
Return-to-work for government employees is more popular than reducing federal positions.
On Monday, Trump issued one of his first executive orders, directing government employees to return to work. That was one of several ideas aimed at enhancing government efficiency proposed by Trump and Musk prior to his inauguration, along with a larger campaign to cut federal employment.
A large proportion of Americans remain undecided on either idea, leaving plenty of possibility for opinions to move as Trump takes action. However, firings are less popular than a broader return-to-work policy. According to the study, around four in ten Americans oppose removing a big number of federal positions, while nearly three in ten support it. However, around four in ten favor asking government employees to return to work five days a week, with just about two in ten against.
Trump has stated that shifting agencies outside of Washington will help him dismantle the “deep state,” a rumored network of primarily nonelected government workers influencing government policy, and he began relocating certain federal employment out of the area at the conclusion of his first term. However, he may need to do this on a wider scale before Americans determine what they think of it. Nearly half of U.S. citizens polled were neutral on transferring government agencies outside of Washington, with roughly one-quarter in favor and a comparable number opposing.
