28% Trust Feds Most of the Time; 33% Rarely or Never Do

​

• Still just 28% of voters trust the federal government to do the right thing a majority of the time.
  • This is up 1 point from last month.
  • Conversely, 33% of registered voters Rarely or Never trust the federal government to do the right thing.
  • This is up 4 points from a month ago, and a new high, surpassing 32% last September.
• It has been over 50 years since a majority of Americans trusted the government to do the right thing a majority of the time.
  • Just 16% of Democrats trust the federal government at least a majority of the time, down 6 points from last month.
  • Republicans are a little more optimistic, with 44% holding that level of trust, up 7 points from a month ago.
  • Trust levels usually favor the party in the White House.
• Forty-three percent (43%) of voters who are politically engaged say they trust the federal government to do the right thing a majority of the time.
  • This is down 3 points from a month ago, when it was at 47%.

This data is from a Napolitan News Service survey of 1,000 Registered Voters conducted online by Scott Rasmussen, January 19-20, 2026 . RMG Research, Inc., conducted the field work for the survey. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.1.