Poll: Majority Prefer a Government Shutdown to Spending More

A majority of likely voters in the United States said they prefer having the government shut down to having Congress approve more spending, according to a poll.

A Rasmussen Reports poll indicated that 56 percent of the respondents would rather have a partial government shutdown until Congress can cut spending or keep it the same. And only 34 percent said they would rather see the opposite, higher spending levels, to avoid a government shutdown.

Additionally, when looked at by party, 73 percent of Republicans and 56 percent of independent respondents said they would prefer to have a partial government shutdown until Congress can figure out a way to cut spending or keep it the same, while only 41 percent of Democrats felt the same way. On the other hand, more Democrats (50 percent) would prefer to have more spending to avoid a government shutdown.

This poll comes as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and the House Republicans will soon have to negotiate a deal to clear the debt ceiling with the Democrats. However, conservative Republicans in the House have been firm on slashing spending before raising the ceiling.

In comparison, four years ago under former President Donald Trump, the same poll found that 54 percent preferred a shutdown when Democrats fought over the debt ceiling, with only 31 percent saying that they preferred the opposite.

The poll also found that most voters think there is a spending problem, with 66 percent believing it is due to “politicians’ unwillingness to reduce government spending,” while 21 percent think “taxpayers are more to blame for the size of the deficit.”

Additionally, when divided by party, a majority of every political category felt the deficit was due to “politicians’ unwillingness to reduce government spending,” including 77 percent of Republicans, 52 percent of Democrats, and 71 percent of independent respondents.

The survey was conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC for Rasmussen Reports from January 18, 19, and 22 with 900 likely voters in the United States. The poll had a three percent margin of error and a 95 percent confidence level.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.