Democrats’ anger at federal government hits record high just days before shutdown: Pew poll

Key Highlights

• 22-28, 2025, finds nearly half of Americans (49%) say they feel frustrated with the federal government, 26% say angry and only 23% say they are basically content. Pew reports that 44% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents now say they feel "angry" toward the federal government, or "highest share expressed by members of either party in surveys dating back to 1997." The number has jumped 10 points from 34% among Democrats during President Trump's first term.
• Just 8% of Democrats say they are content.
• IT WON’T GET ANY BETTER: WASHINGTON FACES ANOTHER LOOMING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN Democrats have broken records in self-reporting their anger at the federal government in the latest Pew Research poll.
• (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via )Republicans and GOP leaners show a dramatically different mood with 40% reporting contentment, half as frustrated and 9% angry.
• GOP anger, by comparison, peaked during the then-Obama and then-Biden administrations.