Americans are increasingly voicing concern about the shutdown’s impact on the U.S. economy, as a big majority feel Congress isn’t even working to try to end it.
There’s also increased worry from people over being personally affected, particularly among those with lower incomes, along with that concern about national impact.
Politically, that means no one is “winning” overall: Congressional Democrats, Republicans and President Trump are all drawing increasingly negative marks for their handling of it as it has gone on.
Democrats express more concern over the economic impact than Republicans do.
Other governmental functions, including air travel, also draw concern due to the shutdown.
Most disapprove of how all the players involved are handling it, and those views have become a bit more negative over October, the month when the shutdown began.
Looking within the rank-and-file of each party, both congressional Republicans and Democrats draw majority approval from their respective partisans. But the Republican base is even more solidly approving of its delegation than the Democrats are of their own.
Some of that is related to attention: the Democrats who don’t approve or are unsure of their party aren’t following news of the shutdown as closely. Another may be financial: Rank-and-file Democrats generally express more concern about the shutdown’s effects on the economy and on themselves, and the Democrats who do approve are also a little more likely to call their own financial situation good, so they may think of themselves in a better position to weather any impact.
But overall, Congress isn’t perceived as even working to end it.
Continued uncertainty in the economy
Americans are especially sensitive because the economy continues to elicit uncertainty.
Ratings of it have been bad for years — nothing much has changed there — and expectations for the coming year remain mixed at best. Support for tariffs remains negative as it has been; views of the job market are also negative — and there’s also continuing concern, amid all the recent news about AI investment and the market, that AI will take jobs.
But perhaps most of all, prices are still seen as rising — a reminder amid a sea of other measures that it is prices, not the rate of change in inflation, that Americans often perceive most immediately.
Few expect prices to come down in the next few months, either.
Those who expect continued higher prices and have a more negative outlook on the economy are particularly concerned about the economic effects of the shutdown.
Politics, parties and the week ahead
One year on from his election victory, most Americans do perceive Mr. Trump as trying to fulfil his campaign promises, even though many say it’s a different approach than they expected — nor do all approve.
And as we’re reminded again this week amid more state elections, politics is about choices, not just evaluations.
On the policy front, Mr. Trump and the Republicans’ perceived approaches to both economic and immigration policy are today favored over the Democrats’ in a straight-up comparison. (A sizable number don’t seem to like either, or aren’t sure.)
For context, ahead of this week’s races and as we head into a midterm election year, there’s always the political question of how much of a factor Donald Trump will be in other contests, and whether Democrats also need to move this needle on perceived policy approach to be competitive.
One item drawing attention this week is the New York mayor’s race (which most people nationally say they’re following, if not very closely.) We asked Democrats nationwide what they thought their party’s economic policies should be as it regards socialism and capitalism — and most Democrats would see their party have a mix of both, but not more of one exclusively.
And another topic in focus this week will be redistricting, where Californians will vote on a redistricting measure, while debates over redrawing lines take place across multiple states.
The American public is not so keen on all that. Most of them think the lines ought to be left alone until 2030, or that more competitive — not more gerrymandered — districts ought to be drawn.
Only a quarter of the public (largely, only the strongest partisans) want more districts one party can win.
Specific issues
Meanwhile all of that economic uncertainty — and mixed approach — does continue to take its toll on Mr. Trump’s ratings on inflation and the economy, specifically. Those, along with the shutdown, continue to weigh on his overall approval, and all have been ticking down over time to their lows for this term. Inflation, in particular, sees him with two-thirds disapproving.
Mr. Trump does get relatively better, if not positive, marks on immigration. That’s been the case for a while, in part, because his GOP is so solidly behind him on the matter, including his deportation program, and in part because Americans overall do say border crossings are down under his administration.
The negotiated peace deal between Israel and Hamas has given Mr. Trump a bump in his approval on handling that conflict. He gets relatively higher approval from independents (and Democrats to some extent) on handling the Israel-Hamas conflict than he does overall.
He gets more positive marks on this than he does overall and on the economy, inflation and immigration, more specifically.
Overall, Mr. Trump’s approval has ticked down just a point from early October, and remains in the low 40s where it has generally been since mid-summer.
This CBS News/YouGov survey was conducted with a nationally representative sample of 2,124 U.S. adults interviewed between October 29-31, 2025. The sample was weighted to be representative of adults nationwide according to gender, age, race, and education, based on the U.S. Census American Community Survey and Current Population Survey, as well as 2024 presidential vote. The margin of error is ±2.6 points.
