Poll: Voters Spread The Blame For Impending Government Shutdown (Exclusive)

As Congress stares down yet another government shutdown, a new Messenger/Harris poll conducted by HarrisX found that while voters believe the government is spending too much money, Congress should do everything to avoid a shutdown. 

The poll, conducted online September 22-23 among 1,011 registered voters, found that 76% of voters said that a government shutdown would be a “serious” problem for the country, and 81% said it would be a “serious” problem for the economy. 

Government funding runs out at 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday. While the Senate has a bipartisan bill to fund the government through November 17th, a small group of conservative House Republicans are pushing for deep spending cuts and say they’ll refuse to support the Senate’s bill or any short-term legislation that would buy time for Congress to sort out a solution. 

The Messenger reported on Wednesday that House Republicans want a border security solution to be part of any plan to avert a government shutdown, arguing that the Senate’s agreement doesn’t go far enough. 

Most voters — 70% — think the U.S. government is spending too much money. However, voters are split on whether a government shutdown would personally impact their lives. Forty-nine percent said a government shutdown would personally impact their lives while 51% said it wouldn’t. 

A clear plurality of voters (46%) blame congressional Republicans for stalled funding talks and the looming government shutdown. Twenty-nine percent blame Democrats in Congress and 26% blame President Joe Biden. 

“Voters want less government spending but as it stands there’s zero appetite for more political drama and dysfunction,” said Dritan Nesho, chief pollster and CEO at HarrisX. “All sides are likely to come out bruised from the shutdown fight.”

When respondents were asked if they believe members of Congress should use the funding negotiations and a possible government shutdown as a negotiating tool to attempt to pass other policies or focus solely on averting a government shutdown, a clear majority (71%) said Congress should focus solely on averting a shutdown. That includes 64% of Republicans, 77% of Democrats, and 70% of Independents. 

Despite the display of brinksmanship currently playing out on Capitol Hill, 60% believe Congress will come to an agreement while 40% do not. 

The margin of error for the poll was plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.