Poll finds rising concern over shutdown impact on economy, Americans personally
Americans are increasingly voicing concerns about the impact of the shutdown on the U.S. economy, as a large majority think Congress is not working to end the shutdown.
Besides the concern about the national impact, there are growing concerns about people being affected personally, especially those on lower incomes.
Politically, this means that no one “wins” overall: Democrats, Republicans, and President Trump in Congress are receiving increasingly negative marks for the way they have handled the issue as this process continues.
Democrats are more concerned about this issue economic impact More than Republicans do.
Other government functions included air travelConcerns are also increasing due to the closure.
Most disapprove of how all the players involved handled this situation, and these opinions became slightly more negative in October, the month the war began. close to start.
Looking at each party’s base, both congressional Republicans and Democrats receive majority approval from their respective partisans. But the Republican base approves of its own delegation more strongly than the Democrats themselves.
Some of this has to do with attention: Democrats who disapprove of their party or are unsure of their party are not following shutdown news that closely. Another might be financial: Rank-and-file Democrats are generally more concerned about the effects of a shutdown on the economy and themselves, and Democrats who approve are slightly more likely to describe their own financial situation as good, so they may see themselves in a better position to weather any impact.
But it’s not generally thought that Congress is even trying to end it.
Uncertainty continues in the economy
Americans are especially sensitive because the economy continues to create uncertainty.
Ratings have been bad for years – not much has changed there – and expectations for next year remain mixed at best. Support tariffs remains negative as is; Views on the job market are also negative – and despite all the recent news, there are concerns that remain About artificial intelligence investment and that AI will take jobs away from the market.
But perhaps most importantly of all, prices still appear to be rising; It’s a reminder that, among other metrics, what Americans often perceive most quickly is prices, not the rate of change in inflation.
There are very few people who expect prices to fall in the next few months.
Those who expect high prices to continue and have a more negative view of the economy are particularly concerned about the economic effects of the closure.
Politics, parties and next week
A year after his election victory, most Americans think Mr. Trump is trying to fulfill his campaign promises, but many say it’s a different approach than they expected, and not all approve.
And as we’re reminded again this week, as state elections escalate, politics is about choices, not just evaluations.
On the policy front, in a direct comparison, the perceived approaches of Mr. Trump and the Republicans on both economic and immigration policy are today preferred over those of the Democrats. (A fair number of people either didn’t like it or weren’t sure.)
For context, ahead of this week’s races and heading into the midterm election year, there’s always the political question of how effective Donald Trump will be in other contests and whether Democrats will need to shift that needle on their perceived policy approach to be competitive, too.
One of the attention-grabbing topics this week is the New York City mayoral race (which most people say they’re following nationally, though not very closely.) We asked Democrats across the country what they think their party’s economic policies should be as it relates to socialism and capitalism — and most Democrats would find that their party has a view. mixture both, but not more than just one.
Another topic of focus this week will be redistricting, where Californians will vote on the redistricting measure. discussions Redrawing of lines occurs on more than one occasion.
The American public isn’t too keen on all this. Many think the lines should be left that way until 2030, or that more competitive, not more gerrymandered, districts should be drawn.
Only a quarter of the public (mostly only the strongest partisans) want more districts for one party to win.
specific problems
Meanwhile, all this economic uncertainty and muddled approach continues to hurt Mr. Trump’s ratings, especially on inflation and the economy. By the close, these continue to weigh on overall approval, and they have all fallen over time to their lowest levels for this period. Inflation, in particular, sees two-thirds disapprove of it.
Mr. Trump gets relatively better, if not positive, marks on immigration. That’s been the case for a while, partly because the GOP is so solidly behind him on this issue, including his deportation program, and partly because Americans generally say border crossings are under his rule.
The peace deal negotiated between Israel and Hamas has boosted Mr. Trump’s approval of handling that conflict. He receives relatively higher approval from independents (and to some extent Democrats) for his handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict than he does overall.
It receives more positive marks on this issue than it does on issues such as economy, inflation and immigration in general and particularly.
Overall, Mr. Trump’s approval has fallen by just one point since early October and remains in the low 40s, as it has generally been since mid-summer.
This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,124 U.S. adults interviewed between October 29-31, 2025. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide by gender, age, race, and education based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as the 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.6 points.
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