Blaming Democrats for the crippling government shutdown may not be the winning strategy the MAGA faithful thinks it is if the latest polls are anything to go by.
More than 75 percent of voters are worried about the ongoing hiatus, with 43 percent describing themselves as “very concerned.”
Just under half say it’s squarely the fault of President Donald Trump and his Republican colleagues in Congress, per a new poll by ABC News, The Washington Post, and Ipsos.
Only 33 percent think the Democratic Party is responsible, up three points since the start of the shutdown on Oct. 1.
Now entering its fourth week, the ongoing deadlock will pass the previous record for overall duration next week, set at 35 days during a partial shutdown under the first Trump administration in early 2019.
While the earlier hiatus primarily revolved around border wall funding, the current impasse involves disputes that cut to the heart of the president’s MAGA agenda, including healthcare subsidies, climate programs, and federal spending caps.
Roughly 750,000 federal workers have been furloughed or are working without pay, comparable to the 800,000 affected during the 2019 shutdown. But the impact is projected to be higher, given inflation and ongoing uncertainty caused by Trump’s trade war and tariffs.
Estimated losses to the economy range from $7 to $15 billion, amounting to a 0.1 percent to 0.2 percent shrinkage in GDP, for each week the shutdown has lasted.
The shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Republican spending proposals failed to garner sufficient support to pass the Senate.
The Trump administration has sought to firmly frame the funding lapse as a result of unreasonable Democratic demands for increasing spending on healthcare, with multiple federal agency websites now carrying banners blaming the shutdown on the “radical left” in what critics describe as a violation of the 1939 Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from engaging in political activities or messaging.
There remains no end in sight. Last Tuesday, Trump held a meeting with Senate Republicans from which he appeared to emerge only hardened in his resolve to hold out against “obstructionists” on the other side of the aisle. “From the beginning, our message has been very simple: We will not be extorted on this crazy plot of theirs,” he said then.
That resolve is nevertheless set to be tested. The new polls, revealing widespread public alarm, come as funding expires for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides food aid to 42 million economically vulnerable Americans.
Comments from Republican Congressman Clay Higgins on Thursday offered some measure of how likely it is a last minute breakthrough deal might be reached ahead of that expiry on Saturday.
“There are 22 million American households receiving SNAP benefits for groceries, at $4200 per year on average,” Higgins said. “Try to get your head wrapped around how many pantries you can stock with $4200 dollars [sic] in properly shopped groceries.”
“Any American who has been receiving $4200 dollars [sic] per year of free groceries and does NOT have at least one month of groceries stocked should never again receive SNAP, because wow, stop smoking crack,” he said.
