Poll: Both parties would be blamed for government shutdown

Most voters would blame Democrats and Republicans alike in the event of a government shutdown, according to polling provided exclusively to The Hill.

A survey by the The Harvard–Harris Poll found that 58 percent of voters would blame both parties equally, while just 20 percent would blame Democrats alone and 23 percent would blame Republicans alone. Independents were even most likely to blame both parties, at 69 percent.

If Congress fails to pass a budget and spending bills by the end of September, the government will shut down.

President Donald Trump and several key members of his administration have floated the possibility that a government shutdown could be “good.” Democrats seized upon the statements, hoping to ensure that Republicans would own the political costs of a potential shutdown.

The poll also found that a large majority of voters — 69 percent — opposed Congress raising the debt ceiling. Previous polls have shown that many voters are unaware that failure to raise the debt ceiling could result in a financial crisis or a recession, as it would cause the US government to default on its debt.

{mosads}Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin has urged Congress to raise the limit before the August recess, though the final deadline will not hit until September.

Conservative Republicans have sought to use the must-pass debt ceiling vote as an opportunity to advance other goals by combining them into one bill.

The poll found broad support for such measures, with large majorities supporting riders for holding up congressional pay if they fail to pass a budget on time, requiring healthcare reform to cover pre-existing conditions, requiring an annual nonpartisan fiscal report to be compiled by the comptroller general and presented to all of Congress, requiring a balanced budget within 5 years, reducing discretionary spending across the board and limiting further debt unless there was economic growth to pay for it.

Majorities also opposed eliminating funding for Planned Parenthood through the debt ceiling and moving to a system of automatic increases on the ceiling, which would leave debt decisions confined to the budget and appropriations process.

“The public has put those in Congress in a difficult position,” said strategist Mark Penn, president of The Stagwell Group. 

“The most favored solution by the public is to raise the debt ceiling but include some spending reforms or curbs along with the measure,” he continued.

The Harvard-Harris online survey of 2,237 registered voters was conducted between June 19 and June 21. The partisan breakdown is 35 percent Democrat, 29 percent Republican, 30 percent independent and 6 percent other.

The Harvard–Harris Poll is a collaboration of the Harvard Center for American Political Studies and The Harris Poll. The Hill will be working with Harvard-Harris throughout 2017. Full poll results will be posted online later this week.

The Harvard-Harris poll is an online sample drawn from the Harris Panel and weighted to reflect known demographics. As a representative online sample, it does not report a margin of error.