Republicans Push Government Agency Ratings Up, but Not FBI

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Majorities of Americans now rate the job performance of eight of 13 key government agencies as "excellent" or "good"; the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) again tops the list with a 74% positive rating. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Secret Service trail the Postal Service as second and third on the list, respectively.

	Excellent/Good	Only fair	Poor
	%	%	%
The U.S. Postal Service	74	19	5
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC	66	21	6
The Secret Service	63	21	5
The Department of Homeland Security	59	26	10
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the FBI	58	22	15
The Central Intelligence Agency, or the CIA	57	25	9
NASA ‑‑ the U.S. space agency	56	22	5
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA	55	25	13
The Federal Reserve Board	49	28	8
The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA	46	32	18
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA	46	26	21
The Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS	45	32	19
The Veterans Administration, or VA	38	34	24
GALLUP, Dec. 18-19, 2017

Most of the agencies received significantly higher ratings in 2017 than they did in 2014, when Gallup last asked about them. The Secret Service (+20 percentage points), the CDC (+16 points), the Department of Homeland Security (+11 points) and the Federal Reserve Board (+11 points) all saw double-digit improvements in their ratings in this latest update to Gallup's government agency job performance ratings, conducted Dec. 18-19.

Nine of the 13 agencies had been measured before 2014 (and in the case of NASA, 16 times dating back to 1990), and most were rated at least slightly more positively in 2014 than 2013. But the changes from 2014 to 2017 dwarf those from 2013 to 2014, and are likely attributable to the change in power in the White House.

	2014	2017	Change
	%	%	pct. pts.
The Secret Service	43	63	+20
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC	50	66	+16
The Department of Homeland Security	48	59	+11
The Federal Reserve Board	38	49	+11
The Veterans Administration, or VA	29	38	+9
The Central Intelligence Agency, or the CIA	49	57	+8
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA	47	55	+8
NASA ‑‑ the U.S. space agency	50	56	+6
The Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS	41	45	+4
The U.S. Postal Service	72	74	+2
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA	44	46	+2
The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA	45	46	+1
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the FBI	58	58	0
Gallup

The USPS, though at the top of the list in 2017, joins the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the FBI in not receiving significantly higher ratings this year than in 2014. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) (which Gallup refers to as the "Veterans Administration" for trending purposes) again receives the lowest rating, despite showing some improvement.

In 2014, the last time Gallup asked the government agency series, the FBI ranked second among all of the agencies, but it has fallen in the overall rankings as the positive ratings of others have risen. The FBI's excellent or good rating is currently unchanged at 58%.

Republicans' Ratings of Government Agencies Much Improved

The improvement in the overall ratings of most government agencies is largely the result of more positive ratings from Republicans. The greatest shift from 2014 is a 33-point increase in the positive ratings of the CDC, although Republicans now view most agencies more favorably than they did in 2014, with the FBI the notable exception.

	2014	2017	Change
	%	%	pct. pts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC	39	72	+33
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA	41	69	+28
The Secret Service	44	71	+27
The Department of Homeland Security	42	68	+26
The Federal Reserve Board	35	53	+18
The Veterans Administration, or VA	20	34	+14
The Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS	30	43	+13
The Central Intelligence Agency, or the CIA	52	62	+10
The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA	44	53	+9
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA	40	49	+9
NASA ‑‑ the U.S. space agency	52	57	+5
The U.S. Postal Service	63	66	+3
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the FBI	62	49	-13
GALLUP

Republicans' rosier outlook is part of a larger pattern in other Gallup research this year whereby GOP supporters are more positive than Democrats about the government and state of the country. In 2014, when Barack Obama was in the White House, majorities of Republicans rated only four of the 13 agencies positively, but this year, after their party recaptured the presidency, nine of the agencies receive majority positive ratings from Republicans.

In 2014, 62% of Republicans viewed the job the FBI was doing as "excellent" or "good," but that positive reading has fallen 13 points to 49% this year as tensions between the FBI and the Trump administration have escalated. As the FBI continues to investigate allegations that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections and whether the Trump campaign was involved, Donald Trump has become increasingly negative about the agency. Republicans appear to have absorbed that message. In contrast, Democrats rated the FBI higher by nine points this year than they three years ago.

Democrats' Ratings of Government Agencies More Stable Than Republicans'

While Democrats' ratings of government agencies have also changed, their shifts in opinion are less consistent and dramatic than Republicans'. Republican ratings of eight agencies improved by double digits, compared with three among Democrats. Echoing the pattern among all adults, Democrats rate the Postal Service highest at 78%, yet that is essentially unchanged from 2014.

	2014	2017	Change
	%	%	pct. pts.
The Secret Service	50	63	+13
NASA ‑‑ the U.S. space agency	47	58	+11
The Central Intelligence Agency, or the CIA	50	60	+10
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the FBI	60	69	+9
The Federal Reserve Board	42	50	+8
The Veterans Administration, or VA	36	42	+6
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC	63	68	+5
The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA	45	45	0
The U.S. Postal Service	80	78	-2
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA	52	48	-4
The Department of Homeland Security	55	51	-4
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA	51	47	-4
The Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS	56	51	-5
GALLUP

In addition to the 20-point difference between Republicans' and Democrats' rating of the FBI, their ratings of three other agencies also differ by double digits. FEMA (21 points) and the Department of Homeland Security (17 points) are viewed more positively by Republicans, while the Postal Service (12 points) is rated better by Democrats. Five agencies are viewed about equally.

	Republicans	Democrats	Difference
	%	%	pct. pts.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA	69	48	+21
The Department of Homeland Security	68	51	+17
The Food and Drug Administration, or FDA	53	45	+8
The Secret Service	71	63	+8
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC	72	68	+4
The Federal Reserve Board	53	50	+3
The Central Intelligence Agency, or the CIA	62	60	+2
The Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA	49	47	+2
NASA ‑‑ the U.S. space agency	57	58	-1
The Internal Revenue Service, or the IRS	43	51	-8
The Veterans Administration, or VA	34	42	-8
The U.S. Postal Service	66	78	-12
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, or the FBI	49	69	-20
Figures are percentage rating each agency as doing an "excellent" or "good" job
GALLUP, Dec. 18-19, 2017

Bottom Line

Americans have expressed increased levels of confidence in the economy and U.S. institutions in 2017, as well as higher levels of support for a more active government. This increased level of optimism and positivity is likely to have translated into the more positive views of the overall performance of government agencies that are evident in these poll results.

However, the country's political polarization has implications for Americans' views of government performance. With the change from a Democratic to a Republican president, a similar shift in performance ratings of government agencies among the parties' supporters would be expected. But the agencies under the relatively new Trump administration have not seen this kind of change. Instead, Democrats give higher ratings to many government agencies under the Trump administration than they did during the Obama administration.

While the survey did not probe beyond these general ratings, the stabilization or even improvement in Democrats' results under a Republican administration may show that Democrats clearly differentiate between executive branch government operations and executive branch politics. Alternatively, it may show that Democrats also sympathize with government agencies or employees who serve under a Trump administration. This may be particularly apparent in the differing partisan views of the FBI, about which Trump has said, "Its reputation is in tatters."