Polls Show Americans Favor Budget Cuts in Theory, Not in Practice

Earlier this year, the Department of Government Efficiency was established to reduce spending in the U.S. government. Although the department is still ongoing, it is on track to vastly undershoot its initial goal of cutting spending by one trillion dollars a year. While the target was technically difficult to achieve, polls indicate it is also unpopular, as most voters want increased spending on top budget items.

The most recent poll analyzing Americans’ hopes for government spending came from The Economist/YouGov, which surveyed 1,623 U.S. adults from Oct. 24-27. When asked about increasing spending across a variety of categories, the only category with more people advocating for less spending than for more was foreign aid, where 21% wanted it to increase while 46% wanted it to decrease. This category was recently highlighted during the Trump administration’s decision to provide $20 billion in financial assistance to Argentina, a move that proved overwhelmingly unpopular, with only 21% approving and 51% disapproving.

On other items, such as national defense, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP, the environment, veterans, and education, many more wanted increased funding than those who wanted decreased funding. The most popular were increased spending on veterans (71%) and Social Security (69%).

While Americans want more spending in almost every category when polled, in another poll from the Cato Institute/YouGov, an overwhelming 76% said the federal government spends too much money, and only 8% said it doesn’t spend enough. Another question found that the average person thinks the federal government should cut spending by 40% across the board, and 64% said cutting spending will mostly help the economy.

These two polls are in conflict. When presented abstractly, Americans want to cut spending. When asked about specific line items, the only popular item to cut is foreign aid. However, foreign aid accounts for only $50-80 billion of the federal budget, depending on the year, or 0.8% to 1.3% of the federal budget.

Spending on the Department of Veterans Affairs, national defense, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and interest on the debt accounted for approximately $5 trillion in spending in 2024. In 2024, the federal government brought in only $4.92 trillion in revenue, including taxes and tariffs, meaning that without all the other federal programs, there is no room to increase spending without increasing debt.

This puts DOGE in a tough spot. Programs like the U.S. Agency for International Development could be cut with support, but there are not nearly enough similarly unpopular programs. In fact, most of the areas where DOGE was initially looking to achieve major savings – Social Security administrative costs and Department of Defense (now Department of War) procurement costs – are areas where increased spending is very popular. Ultimately, this tension put Elon Musk, DOGE’s former leader, in a position where he wanted to cut far more than was popular to balance the budget, which, in part, led to his departure.