Who’s winning the blame game over the government shutdown? Everyone and no one, AP-NORC poll finds

By JOEY CAPPELLETTI and LINLEY SANDERS Associated Press WASHINGTON AP As the governing body shutdown drags on with no end in sight a new AP-NORC poll finds that greater part Americans see it as a major dilemma and all of the major players are being blamed Roughly in Americans say President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have a great deal or quite a bit of responsibility for the shutdown while say the same about Democrats in Congress according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Constituents Affairs Research At least three-quarters of Americans believe each deserves at least a moderate share of blame underscoring that no one is successfully evading responsibility Related Articles Trump declares US-China deal war Bessent floats long truce Trump confirms the CIA is conducting covert operations inside Venezuela Federal executive to withhold M from California for not enforcing trucker English requirements What to know about deporting family members of US troops How the authorities shutdown is thwarting efforts to shed light on Epstein s circumstance The survey conducted as the shutdown stretched into its third week comes as leaders warn it could soon become the longest in history Democrats are demanding an extension of tax credits that have helped millions of people afford robustness insurance since the coronavirus pandemic while Republicans have refused to negotiate until Congress passes a funding bill to reopen the administration The standoff has become a messaging battle with each party betting the masses will blame the other The stakes are especially high for Democrats now out of power and searching for a unifying fight to rally around ahead of pivotal midterm elections Slightly more of the populace s frustration appears to be aimed at the party in power The poll finds that about half of Americans say Trump has a great deal of responsibility for the shutdown the very highest amount of responsibility offered in the poll That s roughly the same share who fault Republicans in Congress but higher than the who say the same of Democrats Sophia Cole a -year-old Republican mother from St Louis placed equal blame for the shutdown on Trump and Congress Cole who described herself as a Trump supporter announced both sides should be able to come together on a compromise but believes it is ultimately the Republican president s responsibility to broker a deal We re dependent on him to get the House and everyone to vote the way that he demands them to vote Cole mentioned Democrats and independents more likely to call the shutdown a major issue The effects of the shutdown are beginning to be felt across the country Flights have been delayed and hundreds of thousands of federal employees who are furloughed or working without pay are starting to miss paychecks The poll finds that of U S adults call the shutdown a major issue with just saying it is not a dilemma at all Democrats are most of likely at to see it as a major matter but of independents and of Republicans feel the same way House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La mentioned this week the country is barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history The last shutdown during Trump s first term went to for a record days and drew similar general sentiment with Democrats more likely than Republicans to see it as a major obstacle The White House has warned the impact of the shutdown could be worse this time While roughly million organization members were paid on time this week the administration has used the federal workforce as leverage and last weekend it began following through on threats to lay off federal workers But on Wednesday a federal judge in California temporarily blocked the firings saying they appeared to be politically motivated and were being carried out without much thought Things are just going to keep getting worse for federal workers stated Angie Santiago a -year-old Democrat from Miami If people like me are struggling I can t imagine what federal workers are going through Santiago who is on disability while her husband works reported she fears the shutdown will worsen economic hardship across the country Santiago mentioned during a phone interview that she began regularly going to food banks about a year ago I m calling you from a food line she declared You re going to see more of these lines popping up It s going to get bad More favor than oppose extending healthcare care subsidies At the center of the shutdown is a stalemate over federal tax credits for people who buy physical condition insurance through the Affordable Care Act marketplace Democrats want the credits extended while Republicans say they will discuss the issue only once the ruling body reopens The poll shows that roughly in U S adults endorsement extending the tax credits while about in oppose it outright A large share have no opinion suggesting various Americans are not closely following the core dispute driving the shutdown Jason Beck a Republican who is a self-employed insurance agent in Utah uses the Affordable Care Act marketplace for his own insurance and supports extending the tax credits I know a lot of the shutdown is over fitness insurance and I d rather just keep it the same way it is now Beck declared of the subsidies Democrats say that keeping wellness insurance prices the same is central to their fight and that prices will skyrocket if Congress doesn t do anything But even Beck who is on the Democrats side with the subsidies still places equal blame for the shutdown on Democrats Republicans and Trump Trump s blaming the Democrats and the Democrats are blaming the Republicans Beck announced We re stuck because there s no middle ground anymore Neither party sees a substantial bump in favorability Both parties have framed the shutdown as a prelude to the midterms with Democrats aiming to flip the House So far however it doesn t appear to have meaningfully shifted opinions about either party About in U S adults have a somewhat or very favorable view of the Democratic Party in line with an AP-NORC poll from September Four in have a somewhat or very favorable view of the Republican Party similar to last month Confidence in Congress meanwhile remains extremely low Only about of Americans say they have a great deal of confidence in the way Congress is being run while have only various confidence and about half have hardly any confidence But the poll suggests that healthcare care could be a helpful issue for Democrats down the road The poll determined that of Americans trust Democrats to do a better job handling robustness care while only trust Republicans more About in trust both equally and trust neither Rob Redding a -year-old independent voter from New York supports extending ACA subsidies and credits Democrats for defending them Redding explained Democrats holding the line on the ACA subsidies is likely one of the bulk valiant and gutsy things he s ever seen them do And Redding disclosed I think that it s the right call The AP-NORC poll of adults was conducted Oct - using a sample drawn from NORC s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel which is designed to be representative of the U S population The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus percentage points