Poll: Majority Holds GOP Responsible for Shutdown

A new poll from The Tarrance Group found that a plurality of voters believe the Republican Party would be most responsible for a government shutdown if it were to occur.

Commissioned by the Republican Main Street Partnership (RSMP) and Women2Women, 37.9% of respondents said the GOP would be most to blame for a shutdown, while 16.8% would fault  President Joe Biden.

Another 18.7% said congressional Democrats would be most responsible for a shutdown, followed by 15.5% that said it would be a combination of several factors, and 5.4% that would put it on the economy. The remainder fell into the Other category.

The Tarrance survey of 500 voters was taken from Sept. 16 to Sept. 18. It has a plus or minus 4.5 percentage point margin of sampling error.

Meanwhile, a separate Echelon Insights poll commissioned by the same groups focused on the opinion of nationwide Republican voters in the 2024 primaries.

Exactly half of that group put the blame definitely or probably on the Democratic Party, with 16% putting it definitely or probably on the Republican Party. Still, three in ten said both would be responsible.

The Echelon poll of 1,026 likely GOP primary voters was taken from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4. It includes a plus or minus 3.8 point margin of sampling error.

“The biggest losers of a government shutdown are the American people, and the polling is clear — if the government shuts down, Republicans will be blamed for it,” RSMP President and CEO Sarah Chamberlain told Breitbart.

“The longer the Republican Conference allows itself to be held hostage by a few fringe members more interested in fundraising and TV appearances than in governing, the more likely the rest of GOP members will suffer at the ballot box come Election Day,” she added.

Congress has until Sept. 30 to pass the bills needed to fund the government,  or approve a short-term measure while lawmakers continue to negotiate.

The poll results come as lawmakers scramble to approve a stopgap spending bill to fund the government through the holiday season, with funding cuts and border security being deliberated in the House proposal.

“I definitely think it can be averted,” Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said of the potential shutdown when asked about it Thursday on Newsmax‘s “Newsline.”

However, there is still “a lot of work that we’re going to have to do,” he continued. “We are actually in the process of doing all of that right now.”