A majority of Democratic voters support efforts to cut government waste, but oppose the cuts implemented and proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force formed under President Donald Trump and headed by his billionaire adviser Elon Musk.
Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Trump established DOGE on his first day in office, tasking it with “modernizing Federal technology and software to maximize governmental efficiency and productivity.”
Conservatives have praised DOGE as a means to cut what they view as unnecessary waste in the federal government, but critics have sounded the alarm that it has sought access to internal government agency data and potentially accessing sensitive information on millions of Americans.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
What to Know
Polls have shown that while Americans aren’t necessarily opposed to cutting waste, many take issue with the leadership of Musk, who has not been confirmed by the Senate, as DOGE is not an official government agency.
A new Harvard-Harris poll, which surveyed 2,443 registered voters from February 19 to February 20 shed new light about how Americans feel about DOGE and efforts to cut government spending.
The poll found that 63 percent of respondents who identified as Democrats said DOGE is not helping make “major cuts in government expenditures.”
But more Democrats—62 percent—expressed support of “undertaking a full-scale effort to find and eliminate fraud and waste in government expenditures. And 65 percent of Democrats said they would back a “full examination of government expenditures.”
Fifty-eight percent of Democrats agreed that government expenditures are “filled with waste, fraud and inefficiency.” This was comfortably lower than the 78 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of independents who said the same.
A slim majority of Democrats—51 percent—opposed the goal of cutting $1 trillion in spending, while 49 percent said they back the goal. Sixty percent of Democrats said they support an agency aimed at making the government more efficient, even if they aren’t a fan of DOGE.
Sixty-eight percent of Democrats said DOGE employees’ access to government information should be limited, and 75 percent said they should not have any access on sensitive information about Americans.
What People Are Saying
Representative Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, in a Fox News Sunday interview: “Maybe there have been some mistakes made, but I think the intensity and the focus on getting rid of the wasteful spending—the one guy who can unlock people who somehow get locked in a restroom in a national park? This is ridiculous. So, the arguments you are seeing from the left are pretty darn crazy when you think about ‘oh we are spending money for crazy things.”
CNN polling analyst Harry Enten on X: “This gives you an idea of how angry the folks are at Elon Musk. Look at this, Elon Musk net favorable rating. We’ve been tracking this. This is Quinnipiac University. Back in December 2024, he was underwater, but just underwater by five points. Look at where he is now in February 2025. The American people are turning against Elon Musk. His net favorable rating way down there, minus 12 points.”
What Happens Next
DOGE cuts are expected to continue facing backlash from critics, including Democrats, who have who have pushed back against his access to Treasury payments data and his efforts to dismantle USAID. Whether that backlash translates into electoral consequences for the GOP, however, is yet to be seen.
