U.S. Cabinet Department Job Ratings Worse This Year

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Four of the five Cabinet departments included in Gallup’s annual ratings of federal government agencies and departments are rated worse than they were a year ago, with several at new low points. Job ratings of federal government agencies are more mixed, with some, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), rated better than last year and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) falling to a new low.

Justice, State, Defense Ratings Lowest in Gallup’s Trend

Significantly fewer Americans than last year believe the Departments of Defense (down eight percentage points to 40%), State (down seven points to 27%) and Homeland Security (down six points to 36%) are doing an excellent or good job. Slightly fewer, 27%, compared with 31% in 2025, rate the Justice Department’s performance favorably.

Ratings of the State, Justice and Defense Departments are now the lowest Gallup has measured for each in readings dating back to 2021 or 2022.

Homeland Security was rated worse than now in 2024, when 32% rated the department’s performance positively after a surge in illegal immigration. After illegal border crossings plummeted in late 2024 and 2025, the department’s job rating improved to 42% last year. Some recent immigration enforcement encounters have turned deadly, likely contributing to this year’s lower rating.

In contrast to the four Cabinet departments experiencing declining ratings, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has seen an improvement, now rated positively by 31%, up from 25%.

These results are from Gallup’s annual Governance poll, conducted Sept. 1-17, which asks Americans to rate the job performance of five federal Cabinet departments and 12 government agencies.

Of the five Cabinet departments, four receive higher “poor” than “excellent/good” ratings. The Justice Department has the highest percentage of negative ratings, with 48% of U.S. adults saying it is doing a poor job, 21 points higher than its excellent/good rating. The Defense Department is the only exception, with roughly equal shares rating it poor (38%) and excellent or good (40%).

As would be expected under a Republican presidential administration, Republicans, including Republican-leaning independents, are more positive than Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents toward the five Cabinet departments. However, Republicans rate Homeland Security (62% excellent or good) and Defense (65%) more positively than they rate Justice (49%), State (45%) and Veterans Affairs (40%). No more than 24% of Democrats rate any of the Cabinets positively, with a low of 11% for the Justice Department.

Partisans’ ratings of specific Cabinet departments have changed in different ways. Republicans’ ratings of Homeland Security and Defense are down significantly from last year, but their opinions of Veterans Affairs are improved, and their views of the Justice Department are unchanged. Democrats’ ratings of State, Defense and Justice are modestly lower, while their ratings of Veterans Affairs are modestly higher.

FDA, CDC Lowest-Rated Federal Agencies

Of the 12 federal government agencies included in the survey, the Postal Service (58%) and NASA (53%) receive the highest percentages of excellent/good ratings. The Food and Drug Administration (25%) and CDC (26%) receive the lowest.

The FDA and CDC are the only two agencies that have higher poor ratings than excellent/good ratings. These agencies have been in the news recently — the CDC, in connection with measles outbreaks in the U.S. amid its attempts to change long-standing vaccine guidance, and the FDA, in its coverage of a major cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce that sickened people in many states. Recent Gallup polling showed declining confidence in the federal government’s ability to ensure food safety.

Ratings of the FDA and CDC are currently the lowest Gallup has measured for each, although the 25% excellent/good rating of the FDA is statistically similar to last year’s 27% figure. Positive job ratings of the CDC are down five points from a year ago and 14 points from 2024.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC was among the most positively viewed federal agencies, but its ratings fell from 64% excellent/good in 2019 to 40% in 2021. The CDC also saw a dip in its ratings in 2014, amid the Ebola virus outbreak; however, its public image quickly rebounded.

The FDA has historically been rated lower than the CDC, reaching only 46% in a 2017 survey.

Democrats’ rating of the CDC has dropped 14 points this year, following a 31-point decline in 2025, when the Trump administration took office and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. began making sweeping changes.

Prior to 2025, Democrats’ job rating of the CDC had been quite positive, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In contrast, Republicans’ ratings of the CDC, which plummeted during the pandemic from 70% positive in 2019 to 16% in 2021, have improved from 19% in 2024 to 32% today.

Republicans also evaluate the FDA more positively than Democrats do, 36% to 18%. Republicans’ ratings have improved from 23% in 2024, while Democrats’ have fallen from 47%. Between 2009 and 2017, Democrats and Republicans rated the FDA about equally, but since 2019, the party subgroup aligned with the incumbent president has always rated it significantly more favorably.

In addition to the CDC and FDA, the FBI’s excellent/good rating of 35% is the lowest Gallup has measured for it, though not meaningfully different from last year’s 36%.

Three Agencies Rated Better Than in 2025

Not all agencies or departments included in the survey are viewed worse now than in 2025. In fact, ratings of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are significantly more positive than a year ago, each increasing by eight or nine percentage points. Ratings of NASA are five points more positive than a year ago.

The EPA’s ratings are essentially back to where they were before dipping last year, and NASA’s are back to where they were in 2023. Both agencies have been rated more positively in the past. NASA’s ratings reached as high as 76% in 1998, after John Glenn returned from a space shuttle mission at age 77 and the agency began work on the International Space Station. As recently as 2021, it was at 60%. The EPA had positive ratings ranging from 41% to 46% between 2009 and 2019.

This is only the second measure of the FAA, and last year’s reading came in the months after a deadly crash between a military helicopter and commercial airplane near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

FEMA’s ratings may also be showing signs of recovery after dropping from 46% in early September 2024 to 26% last year, following criticism of the federal government’s response to flooding in the Asheville, North Carolina, area that occurred in late September 2024.

Positive ratings of FEMA, the FAA and the EPA have risen by 12 to 14 points among Republicans, compared with more modest gains of two to four points among Democrats.

Republicans’ ratings of two other agencies — the Federal Reserve and Postal Service — have risen sharply by 16 points each, but these gains have been offset to a large degree by eight-point declines among Democrats.

Bottom Line

Americans’ evaluations of key federal government departments and agencies show a mixed pattern this year, with some — primarily Cabinet departments — rated worse than a year ago, some showing improved ratings and others unchanged. 

Americans’ views of these federal government organizations appear to be affected by news coverage of each one’s recent activities. Ratings have declined for departments and agencies that have struggled to respond to incidents within their purview or have taken controversial actions.

These ratings are also influenced to a certain degree by Americans’ partisanship, with Republicans generally viewing the actions of Republican-led government departments more favorably than Democrats do.

In some cases, the effects of news events may transcend partisanship, as evidenced by Republicans’ lower ratings this year of the Department of Defense, as the government wages an extended war in Iran, and of the Department of Homeland Security amid controversial deportation measures.

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