Most Americans believe that corruption, inefficiency and bureaucratic red tape are major problems in the federal government, according to a new Associated Press-NORC poll, but many are also skeptical about President Donald Trump’s creation of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and most have an unfavorable view of the effort’s leader, billionaire Elon Musk.
The poll, conducted from January 9 to 13, finds that 70% of U.S. adults call corruption a “major problem” for the federal government, while 65% say the same about inefficiency and 59% say regulations and bureaucracy are big challenges. Those percentages include sizeable majorities of Republicans and independents — and even Democrats, except for the “red tape” question.
At the same time, most Americans say that the United States is spending too little on programs including Social Security (67% say the government isn’t spending enough); education (65%); help for the poor (62%); Medicare (61%) and Medicaid (55%). A slim majority of 51% says more should be spent on the border, while just 34% say the government is spending too little on the military.
The poll also finds that, even as most Americans see major problems with the government, only about three in 10 adults approve of the creation of DOGE, while 39% disapprove. Republicans are far more likely to favor the program, with 58% backing it compared to just 11% of Democrats. More than half of those polled (52%) have an unfavorable opinion of Musk, while 36% have a favorable view of him. And about six in 10 see the president’s reliance on billionaires or family members for policy advice as a bad thing.
The poll of 1,147 adults has an overall margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.