The Nov. 3 midterm elections clearly showed that American voters are in the mood for change. This included the public’s evident desire to rein in government power as exercised by the current administration and Congress.
At the same time, winning Democratic candidates have expressed their own intention to enact new or expanded government programs when the new Congress convenes in January. Those that have been discussed include such things as “Medicare for All,” expanded Medicaid and ACA coverage, increased affordable housing availability, reduced housing costs through federal policy initiatives, and expanded affordability and access to childcare and other caregiving services.
Herein lies a potential challenge. Americans have long had an ambivalent, love-hate relationship with their federal government. They value Social Security, Medicare, national defense and other services it provides, yet they hold the institution itself in low regard, and most view it more negatively than positively. Any new programs, and the expansion of federal power that comes with them, will therefore arrive in front of a cautious public with serious reservations about government and its proper role.
These are all considerations that, in theory, could affect the ability of the forthcoming Democratically controlled Congress to realize its agenda.
Public Distrusts Government and Sees It as Incompetent
Whatever policies Congress pursues in the coming year, it will confront a fundamental reality: Americans have negative views of the federal government and historically have doubted its ability to solve problems.
As I said in a review of these issues a couple of years ago, “Available evidence shows that a majority of Americans believe the government is inefficient and wasteful. These negative perceptions reinforce or arise from Americans' broadly negative attitude toward their federal government in general.” These attitudes were measured during a period in which Democrats controlled the White House and the Senate.
A quick sampling of recent Gallup headlines summarizing public opinion of the U.S. government shows the same concerns persisting while Republicans control all three branches:
- Trust in Federal Government Sinks to New Depths
- Record Lows Say Congressional Incumbents Deserve Reelection
- Confidence in Federal Government to Improve Lives Falters
- U.S. Cabinet Department Job Ratings Worse This Year
- Record-High 89% in U.S. Say Government Corruption Widespread
And there is more along these same lines covering the periods of both the current and past administrations:
- A recent Bently University-Gallup survey found that while over nine in 10 Americans say the federal government has the power to make a positive impact, only 43% believe it is effective at doing so. That effectiveness percentage is down from a reading of 51% last year. The federal government receives a significantly lower rating in terms of being effective at making a positive impact than state and local governments, businesses, and charitable and advocacy organizations.
- An AP-NORC poll from December 2025 asked Americans: “How confident are you in the ability of the federal government to make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2026?” The results showed a significant vote of no confidence. Two-thirds (66%) said they were only slightly or not at all confident, with 11% saying they were extremely or very confident.
- A poll conducted in 2024 by the Partnership for Public Service found that two-thirds of those interviewed (66%) were willing to characterize the federal government as “incompetent.” This was up from 56% in 2022.
- Pew Research in 2024 updated a useful trend question that gauges perceptions of government performance, asking respondents to choose between two statements: “Government is almost always wasteful and inefficient” or “Government often does a better job than people give it credit for.” The results showed that a majority of 56% chose the “always wasteful and inefficient” option, compared with 42% choosing the latter.
- In a similar vein, Gallup historically has shown that Americans believe that at least half of the money spent by the government is wasted.
- The federal government has consistently been at the bottom of a list of business and industry sectors that Americans rate each year. As Gallup reported in September, “The federal government has been the lowest-rated sector for much of the past two decades.”
The newly elected members of Congress can say that they are being sent to Washington to address these negative perceptions (and to provide checks on the power of the presidency). But when it comes to new policies and new programs, the new leaders confront a challenge. The lack of confidence in the federal government is a long-term phenomenon, unlikely to be changed overnight by a change in control of Congress.
Concerns About Federal Government Power
Over the past 20 years, Americans have consistently said that the government has too much power. For the most part, majorities of Americans have also said that the government is trying to do too many things. As I concluded in a summary of these trend questions last year, the public believes that the “federal government has too much power and tries to do too much that should be left to individuals and businesses.”
This year’s update shows that 63% of Americans say the federal government has too much power, similar to the 62% recorded in 2025. There is a little more acceptance in terms of the government’s role in solving the nation’s problems, with 48% saying the government is trying to do too much and 45% saying it should do more. That latter figure is up modestly from the past couple of years.
But the percentage saying the government should do more is still below the majority level, and still below the percentage saying the government is doing too much.
These views change over time to some degree, and Republicans and Democrats shift their perspectives depending on the party of the president in the White House. But, all in all, the data underscore a fundamental long-standing tendency for Americans to be wary of federal government power, a reality the new Congress will need to keep in mind.
The public must be convinced, in other words, that a given policy initiative or program is necessary and appropriate, while also being convinced that the government can make it work.
The Deficit Remains a Concern
The public’s concern about the budget deficit could clash with programs that add significantly to federal spending.
The deficit is not usually top of mind for most Americans. In October, for example, only 2% mentioned the deficit or federal debt explicitly when asked to name the most important problem facing the nation. On the other hand, the deficit is rated as a serious problem when Americans are asked directly about it.
- A Gallup update from earlier this year found that the deficit was fourth on a list of domestic policy worries, out of 16 tested.
- Pew Research reported in May that 64% of U.S. adults say the deficit is a “very big problem” for the country.
- A recent survey by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation found that over eight in 10 registered voters (84%) say their concern about the national debt has increased, and 80% say the debt should be “a top-three priority” for the president and Congress.
The deficit is, thus, a latent issue that rarely tops the public’s top-of-mind agenda but can quickly resurface when people are reminded of it.
Those interested in implementing a significantly expanded vision for federal government programs will need to be sensitive to how the public's concern about the ballooning deficit might constrain their willingness to support such programs.
Socialism’s Image Has Improved, but Americans Remain Wary
Another interesting issue that arose in this year’s campaigns was “socialism.” A non-trivial number of congressional candidates this year were endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, and many of them won their elections on Nov. 3.
Socialism does have an improving image in the U.S. For the first time in Gallup’s history of measuring reactions to the word, more than four in 10 Americans (43%) said they have a positive impression of socialism.
But, even with this uptick, opinions of socialism remain more negative than positive.
Exit polling conducted during the midterm elections this year shows that 53% of voters have an unfavorable opinion of socialism, compared with 33% who have a favorable opinion and 13% who don’t know enough to say.
A Gallup analysis in August showed that Americans attach many different meanings to “socialism,” some far removed from its traditional definition of collective ownership of productive resources. But when Americans are asked what they dislike about socialism, many responses share a common theme: government control and inefficiency.
In short, while a number of localities elected candidates who have been associated with socialism (or democratic socialism), a slight majority of voters nationwide presumably remain wary of what can be defined as socialist policies.
Congressional leaders may face the challenge of justifying new programs and policies while countering potential charges from some quarters that they are pushing the nation toward what remains an unpopular socialist orientation.
Bottom Line
The ways in which the American public wants the new Congress to use its government power are, not surprisingly, complicated. Exit poll data show that the new Democratic-controlled Congress has been elected to counter the authority exercised by the current administration and Congress.
But beyond these considerations, newly elected Democratic candidates and leaders have laid out plans to use their positions to enact new and expanded government programs.
As the new Congress advances these initiatives, it will face an American public that historically:
- is skeptical that the government is competent enough to fix problems
- is worried about the government having too much power
- is concerned about the deficit
- has a more negative than positive image of socialism
If leaders of the newly elected Congress argue that expanded government programs are necessary, they will need to argue as well that the government is up to the task, can implement them effectively and can afford them.
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