By — Matt Loffman Matt Loffman Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/americans-are-more-likely-to-blame-gop-for-a-shutdown-poll-finds Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Are Democrats or Republicans to blame for the looming government shutdown? Here’s what our poll found Politics Updated on Sep 30, 2025 1:12 PM EDT — Published on Sep 30, 2025 12:00 PM EDT Americans are divided on which party to blame if funding lapses after midnight tonight, according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Yet a plurality – 38% – say Republicans, who control the White House and both houses of Congress, would be most at fault. In the new poll, 27% would blame Democrats, while 31% believe both parties would be equally to blame. WATCH: Government shutdown appears unavoidable after White House meeting fails to produce deal The U.S. federal government is on the verge of its first shutdown in more than six years after last-minute negotiations on a spending bill failed. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Enter your email address Subscribe Form error message goes here. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Instead, lawmakers emerged from the Monday meeting between President Donald Trump and congressional leadership pointing fingers at the other party for the potential shutdown. Republicans accused Democrats of “highjacking” and “hostage-taking.” Democrats accused Republicans of “decimating” health care for millions of Americans. The blame game While majorities of both Democratic and Republican poll respondents unsurprisingly blamed the other party, 41% of independents said both parties share the blame equally. Another 36% of independents would blame Republicans, significantly more than the 19% who would blame Democrats. WATCH: Schumer says Trump ‘totally derelict’ for scrapping negotiations to avoid shutdown Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion, said the funding stalemate and public opinion has created “a prescription for good gridlock.” In a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, a plurality – 38% – of U.S. adults say Republicans would be mostly to blame for a government shutdown. Another 27% would blame Democrats, while 31% believe both parties would be equally to blame. Graphic by Jenna Cohen/PBS News. “There aren’t winners,” Miringoff said. “Politically, I think [lawmakers] are trying to position themselves to somehow create a victory out of this, even if it’s a somewhat empty one.” READ MORE: What closes during a government shutdown? What we know about how it would unfold Because independents are more likely to blame both parties, “this is not going to be as easy for Democrats to pin it solely on Trump and congressional Republicans,” said Amy Walter, editor-in-chief of The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. Confusion and frustration was palpable among independent voter poll respondents who spoke with PBS News about the looming shutdown and who should be held accountable. “The Democrats are out of control,” said Carol Gee, an independent in Arizona. “They don’t want to cooperate at all. They want to make the country shut down. They want to make it happen so it makes the president look bad.” READ MORE: Thune says a shutdown can still be avoided if Democrats ‘dial back’ their demands “The Democrats and the Republicans should work together” to avoid a shutdown, said Ann Hughes, an independent in South Carolina who believes the president is the cause of the current stalemate. “Nobody can work with Trump.” A weekslong stalemate The meeting on Monday was the first time congressional leadership and the president had met to discuss the current government funding standoff, after Trump canceled a planned meeting last week, citing Democrats “unserious and ridiculous” demands. The clash over funding has been in a stalemate for weeks. Earlier this month, House Republicans passed a short-term extension of funding that would keep the government operating through Nov. 21, but the proposal fell short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate. A separate Democratic plan that would have extended funding through October, alongside other provisions like a permanent extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, also failed to pass. WATCH: Why health care tax credits are a sticking point in shutdown negotiations Democrats have dug in on their priorities, including the ACA credits that have subsidized health insurance for millions and are set to expire at the end of the year, rolling back Medicaid funding cuts from the “big beautiful bill” enacted by Republicans, and restoring rescinded funding to public broadcasting. The willingness of congressional Democrats to hold out on making a deal is a notable shift in tactics from March when senators, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., voted to fund the government and avert a shutdown. The move frustrated many in the Democratic base who said their elected lawmakers didn’t do enough to push back on the Trump administration agenda. Should members of Congress compromise or stand on principle? Americans are evenly divided on whether members of Congress should compromise or stand on principle even if it may lead to a shutdown, according to the PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Democrats are split, with 52% in favor of compromise and 47% who support holding out, within the margin of error and further complicating political calculations for party leadership. Independents are similarly slightly more likely to want to see compromise to avoid a shutdown, while a narrow majority of Republicans say leaders should dig in. Americans are evenly divided on whether members of Congress should compromise or stand on principle even if it may lead to a shutdown, according to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Graphic by Jenna Cohen/PBS News. Any compromise appears unlikely to emerge before the midnight deadline. The House of Representatives remains out of session until Wednesday, and Senate leadership in both parties have signaled an unwillingness to budge from their positions. Barring any last-minute shifts, tens of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed. Many others deemed essential – from the military to TSA to health care workers at VA hospitals – will continue to work without paychecks until the situation is resolved. WATCH: Federal workers brace for more mass layoffs as potential government shutdown looms But the full effect of any shutdown remains unclear. In a memo from the Office of Management and Budget last week, the Trump administration urged agencies to use a shutdown to consider mass layoffs of employees who work on projects “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” Trump said Tuesday morning that could mean “a lot” of federal workers could be fired during a shutdown. It’s part of the monthslong effort of the new administration to test the limits of presidential power and dramatically scale back the size and scope of government. How voters feel about Democrats and Republicans right now The shutdown fight has exacerbated the political polarization plaguing Washington for months. In the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, Americans give low marks to leadership across the board. Half of Americans – 53% – disapprove of the job Trump is doing in his second term so far, including 46% of people who strongly disapprove. Yet support for the president has remained largely steady since he reentered the Oval Office, with 41% approving of his job performance. Half of Americans – 53% – disapprove of the job President Donald Trump is doing in his second term so far. Yet support for the president has remained largely steady since he reentered the Oval Office, with 41% approving of his job performance. Graphic by Jenna Cohen/ PBS News Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, caught up in the latest shutdown fight, receive even less support from the American voters. READ MORE: Trump gets an ‘F’ on his first 100 days from plurality of Americans, poll finds Thirty-seven percent approve of the job Republicans are doing while 55% disapprove, holding roughly steady from this summer. This level of support is the highest the party has received in Marist surveys over the last 14 years. Democrats fare significantly worse. Twenty-six percent of registered voters approve of the job Democrats in Congress are doing as the minority party, while 64% disapprove. That low support for Democrats is largely driven by their own voters being closely divided – 48% approve and 44% disapprove – on the party’s job performance in Congress. READ MORE: How a government shutdown could give Trump more power Overall, support for Democrats is at its lowest point since July 2018, during Trump’s first term. Despite the high disapproval at the time, Democrats picked up 40 seats during the midterm elections that year to retake control of the House of Representatives. “The Democrats are spinning their wheels. The Republicans seem to have more traction,” Miringoff said. “But there’s no big high-fives in any of this. There’s no great Champagne popping for anybody. The numbers are pretty miserable all around.” PBS News, NPR and Marist Poll conducted a survey from Sept. 22 through Sept. 26, 2025, that polled 1,477 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, and 1,329 registered voters with a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now By — Matt Loffman Matt Loffman Matt Loffman is the PBS NewsHour's Deputy Senior Politics Producer @mattloff
Americans are divided on which party to blame if funding lapses after midnight tonight, according to a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Yet a plurality – 38% – say Republicans, who control the White House and both houses of Congress, would be most at fault. In the new poll, 27% would blame Democrats, while 31% believe both parties would be equally to blame. WATCH: Government shutdown appears unavoidable after White House meeting fails to produce deal The U.S. federal government is on the verge of its first shutdown in more than six years after last-minute negotiations on a spending bill failed. Educate your inbox Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else. Enter your email address Subscribe Form error message goes here. Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. Instead, lawmakers emerged from the Monday meeting between President Donald Trump and congressional leadership pointing fingers at the other party for the potential shutdown. Republicans accused Democrats of “highjacking” and “hostage-taking.” Democrats accused Republicans of “decimating” health care for millions of Americans. The blame game While majorities of both Democratic and Republican poll respondents unsurprisingly blamed the other party, 41% of independents said both parties share the blame equally. Another 36% of independents would blame Republicans, significantly more than the 19% who would blame Democrats. WATCH: Schumer says Trump ‘totally derelict’ for scrapping negotiations to avoid shutdown Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist University Institute for Public Opinion, said the funding stalemate and public opinion has created “a prescription for good gridlock.” In a new PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, a plurality – 38% – of U.S. adults say Republicans would be mostly to blame for a government shutdown. Another 27% would blame Democrats, while 31% believe both parties would be equally to blame. Graphic by Jenna Cohen/PBS News. “There aren’t winners,” Miringoff said. “Politically, I think [lawmakers] are trying to position themselves to somehow create a victory out of this, even if it’s a somewhat empty one.” READ MORE: What closes during a government shutdown? What we know about how it would unfold Because independents are more likely to blame both parties, “this is not going to be as easy for Democrats to pin it solely on Trump and congressional Republicans,” said Amy Walter, editor-in-chief of The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter. Confusion and frustration was palpable among independent voter poll respondents who spoke with PBS News about the looming shutdown and who should be held accountable. “The Democrats are out of control,” said Carol Gee, an independent in Arizona. “They don’t want to cooperate at all. They want to make the country shut down. They want to make it happen so it makes the president look bad.” READ MORE: Thune says a shutdown can still be avoided if Democrats ‘dial back’ their demands “The Democrats and the Republicans should work together” to avoid a shutdown, said Ann Hughes, an independent in South Carolina who believes the president is the cause of the current stalemate. “Nobody can work with Trump.” A weekslong stalemate The meeting on Monday was the first time congressional leadership and the president had met to discuss the current government funding standoff, after Trump canceled a planned meeting last week, citing Democrats “unserious and ridiculous” demands. The clash over funding has been in a stalemate for weeks. Earlier this month, House Republicans passed a short-term extension of funding that would keep the government operating through Nov. 21, but the proposal fell short of the 60 votes needed in the Senate. A separate Democratic plan that would have extended funding through October, alongside other provisions like a permanent extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, also failed to pass. WATCH: Why health care tax credits are a sticking point in shutdown negotiations Democrats have dug in on their priorities, including the ACA credits that have subsidized health insurance for millions and are set to expire at the end of the year, rolling back Medicaid funding cuts from the “big beautiful bill” enacted by Republicans, and restoring rescinded funding to public broadcasting. The willingness of congressional Democrats to hold out on making a deal is a notable shift in tactics from March when senators, led by Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., voted to fund the government and avert a shutdown. The move frustrated many in the Democratic base who said their elected lawmakers didn’t do enough to push back on the Trump administration agenda. Should members of Congress compromise or stand on principle? Americans are evenly divided on whether members of Congress should compromise or stand on principle even if it may lead to a shutdown, according to the PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Democrats are split, with 52% in favor of compromise and 47% who support holding out, within the margin of error and further complicating political calculations for party leadership. Independents are similarly slightly more likely to want to see compromise to avoid a shutdown, while a narrow majority of Republicans say leaders should dig in. Americans are evenly divided on whether members of Congress should compromise or stand on principle even if it may lead to a shutdown, according to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll. Graphic by Jenna Cohen/PBS News. Any compromise appears unlikely to emerge before the midnight deadline. The House of Representatives remains out of session until Wednesday, and Senate leadership in both parties have signaled an unwillingness to budge from their positions. Barring any last-minute shifts, tens of thousands of federal employees will be furloughed. Many others deemed essential – from the military to TSA to health care workers at VA hospitals – will continue to work without paychecks until the situation is resolved. WATCH: Federal workers brace for more mass layoffs as potential government shutdown looms But the full effect of any shutdown remains unclear. In a memo from the Office of Management and Budget last week, the Trump administration urged agencies to use a shutdown to consider mass layoffs of employees who work on projects “not consistent with the President’s priorities.” Trump said Tuesday morning that could mean “a lot” of federal workers could be fired during a shutdown. It’s part of the monthslong effort of the new administration to test the limits of presidential power and dramatically scale back the size and scope of government. How voters feel about Democrats and Republicans right now The shutdown fight has exacerbated the political polarization plaguing Washington for months. In the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, Americans give low marks to leadership across the board. Half of Americans – 53% – disapprove of the job Trump is doing in his second term so far, including 46% of people who strongly disapprove. Yet support for the president has remained largely steady since he reentered the Oval Office, with 41% approving of his job performance. Half of Americans – 53% – disapprove of the job President Donald Trump is doing in his second term so far. Yet support for the president has remained largely steady since he reentered the Oval Office, with 41% approving of his job performance. Graphic by Jenna Cohen/ PBS News Both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, caught up in the latest shutdown fight, receive even less support from the American voters. READ MORE: Trump gets an ‘F’ on his first 100 days from plurality of Americans, poll finds Thirty-seven percent approve of the job Republicans are doing while 55% disapprove, holding roughly steady from this summer. This level of support is the highest the party has received in Marist surveys over the last 14 years. Democrats fare significantly worse. Twenty-six percent of registered voters approve of the job Democrats in Congress are doing as the minority party, while 64% disapprove. That low support for Democrats is largely driven by their own voters being closely divided – 48% approve and 44% disapprove – on the party’s job performance in Congress. READ MORE: How a government shutdown could give Trump more power Overall, support for Democrats is at its lowest point since July 2018, during Trump’s first term. Despite the high disapproval at the time, Democrats picked up 40 seats during the midterm elections that year to retake control of the House of Representatives. “The Democrats are spinning their wheels. The Republicans seem to have more traction,” Miringoff said. “But there’s no big high-fives in any of this. There’s no great Champagne popping for anybody. The numbers are pretty miserable all around.” PBS News, NPR and Marist Poll conducted a survey from Sept. 22 through Sept. 26, 2025, that polled 1,477 U.S. adults with a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points, and 1,329 registered voters with a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points. A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now