CNN: Voters Oppose Congressional Brinksmanship With Govt Shutdown

A new survey from CNN has found that 81% of Americans, “say it is not acceptable for members of Congress to threaten a government shutdown during budget negotiations in order to achieve their goals, including broad majorities of Democrats (89%), independents (81%) and Republicans (72%).”

• CNN: “On the immediate major legislation looming – the need to fund the government by November 17 – most Americans think it is at least somewhat likely that a deal will get done (57% say so), though only 10% say it is “very likely” to happen.”
• The survey supports a suggestion that recent tactics from conservative House Republicans to use the threat of a government shutdown as leverage over Democrats to extract concessions over spending may prove politically damaging.
• Voter perceptions over the use of a government shutdown appear to have shifted since the ouster of former speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), leading to a more general increase in negative views of Republican leadership.

Figure 1: Use of Government Shutdown as a Bargaining Tool

Source: CNN